Time Changes Everything
by gred18850
Summary: Rose never did say what she went through to get back to the Doctor.  And why is the TARDIS so upset with him?  It seems that all the women in the Doctor's life are about to gang up on him. An AU of JE.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Finally getting the edits done so people stop complaining. **:** P Still don't own.

"Does it need saying?" The Doctor's voice was pained as if every word hurt for him to say as much as it hurt her to hear. He stood poised, ready to run. He looked like he wanted to be on the opposite end of reality, any reality, from this beach.

Rose felt no sympathy. He was the one that was doing this to the both of them not her, and she was sick of sympathizing with him. She knew as soon as they had stepped foot onto this awful beach that he was going to manipulate her into staying and what was worse was that there was three of him all wanting the same thing, if you included Donna.

Rose looked to the metacrisis and watched the hopeful expression cross his face and she knew if she asked him it was going to be a trap. Rose then glanced quickly at her mother and they shared a nod. Jackie walked over with glee, pulled the Time Lord around and slapped him so hard he ended up landing on his skinny arse.

"What?" said The Doctor as he sat in the sand sputtering, protected his cheek, and stared at Jackie.

"Well, what did you expect me to do, you stupid alien. Never did listen to a word my Rose said to you, did you. Maybe she has a story to tell that you might want to listen to before you swan off, yeah?"

"What?" The Doctor repeated.

"Shut it you," Jackie continued, "If you shut your gob for two seconds put together maybe you wouldn't be in this situation, now would you. Rose, love, I'll see you later, yeah. Just call before you come and we'll be ready. Love you."

"But-," the metacrisis started to say before he was elbowed by Rose, _hard, _which caused him to make a wheezing sound. She didn't want to hear him speak either.

"Yeah, mum, I'll see you soon; love you." Rose replied and hugged her mother goodbye.

Rose continued to watch her mother leave until she was out of sight over the nearest sand dune. She then turned to the two men and watched them with a completely blank face leaving them no way to guess her emotions. She had plenty of practice over the years to prefect it.

Both were staring at her in bewilderment. It would have been comical or endearing if she hadn't been as angry as she was. How dare he do this to her, _again!_ The only clear thought she had going through her head was how much she missed One. _He_ would have never done this.

"Come on we have to leave soon, right." With that statement Rose then passed Donna and walked into the TARDIS. Everyone scrambled after her.

"But Rose she's…" The Doctor tried to lecture.

"Yeah, I know. Been my mum my whole life, sorta." Rose interrupted him as he went to grab her shoulder to pull her around to face him. She deftly moved to avoid his grasp without making it seemed as if she noticed what he was trying to do. Donna situated herself on the jump seat and wisely kept herself from the conversation, while the metacrisis tried to come at Rose from the other side as if to box her in. Rose avoided him too. It placed her right next to Donna by the jump seat.

"You'll never see…" The Doctor tried again.

"We already covered this, mum and I. There are a lot of things you don't know." It was said with complete confidence and calm.

Her tone was starting to truly worry both men but a sudden noise from the TARDIS distracted both of them. They needed to leave before they were trapped here.

"Are you sure?" Donna finally spoke up and stopped any objections that may have started.

"Yes." It was accompanied with a soft smile for Donna who seemed to be regaining more of her human thought processes or maybe it was female sympathy. Rose didn't know or care but was still grateful. Donna then approached the console and put in the sequence that would take the TARDIS into the vortex, leaving the parallel world behind. This also left everyone hanging in awkward silence.

Rose pinched the bridge of her nose, a habit that she had recently picked up from Pete, and thought about what needed to happen now to make sure that everything worked out. First thing first, take care of Donna and "Handy". Then she was going to reacquaint herself with, well, herself. After that, a break from Doctors, every single one of him because Rose knew if any one of them touched her right now she would either break down or get violent and neither was appealing and that wouldn't be fair to One through Eight or Eleven through Thirteen. Not Nine though, he would have done the exact same thing as this one was doing.

"Right," Rose startled everyone with her voice, "Donna, Handy, come on we should go to the med-bay or whatever and figure out what's going to happen to you. Wouldn't want one of you to die because this happened to ya. Wait, no, changed my mind you lot handle it, I would just get in the way. I need to think and have a lie in. Good luck." With that she dropped onto the jump seat and waved them off.

"Handy?"

Rose had her eyes closed and couldn't tell with one of the men had said it.

"Is this really the time to be worrying about nicknames when there's potential death to avert?"

"I see your point. Come on Donna."

After the sound of their feet faded into the distance Rose looked up to find the Doctor staring at her. He looked frustrated, confused, relieved and worried with a large dose of fear overlaying everything else, which was probably why he hadn't gotten closer. It was no wonder considering Jackie's handprint was still vivid on his cheek. Rose held up her hand before he could speak because she knew if she didn't cut him off right now she would never get the peace she wanted.

"I'm too tired and angry to talk to you without being irrational, so just go and help them. I mean I'm sure their brilliant but it wouldn't hurt to have a Time Lord with them. Just make sure he picks out a good name that isn't John Smith. I think he needs to learn how to be his own person and not walk in someone else's shoes."

"But he's…"

"Not you."

"Why won't you let me explain anything?" He finally blustered out a full sentence and seemed braver for it. He was starting to inch his way closer to her.

"So I'm supposed to listen to you but you don't have to do the same? You know I wish for once you would respect the fact that I might know what's best for me and not some 1382 year old alien. 903 my ass, didn't realize that Nine was so insecure about his age." She ignored his surprised sputtering and continued, "Look I said I was tired and that I need to think things out before we do this, whatever this is. I'll be back in about a week; everything should be sorted by then with Donna and 'Handy'."

Before he could even question where she was going, because really they were in the vortex where could she go, Rose dissolved into gold light and disappeared into the console of the TARDIS. This caused the Doctor to do the only thing he was capable in that moment, panic.

"NO, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, give her back. What are you doing? Why? What? How could you…" During his frenzy he had been trying to open the grating around the console and had received a shock for his efforts. He was just resorting to begging when the metacrisis jogged into the console room.

"Donna is starting to deteriorate, so I could really use… Where's Rose? What did you do?"

The Doctor ignored the other man's tone of voice and locked away his emotions. How was he supposed to handle loosing Donna on top of what had happened to Rose. And what had happened to Rose anyway? The panic was receding and the analytical aspect of his brain that was usually in control was reasserting itself. The past five minutes was dissected in minute detail while he went over the options of what they could do to help Donna. Letting his emotions control him was dangerous but Rose had always involuntarily made what he felt override everything when he should have been logical. Plus, the metacrisis was rubbing his senses raw with the dangerous possibility he presented for either one of them/him.

_Valeyard._ The whispered possibility stung and the Doctor wondered if the metacrisis could even feel the dangerous ground they both stood on. At this point it would be one or the other. Although, to be fair at this point it was far more likely that it would end up being the metacrisis, most of the possibilities shined down that path.

"Stop," the Doctor cut the metacrisis off, he had been working himself into a fury, "Donna is more important right now. Rose will be fine, but Donna won't, so come on." With that he started towards the infirmary, the other man right behind.

"So if she's going to be fine what was the scene I walked in on?"

"Nothing, don't worry about it. Rose said she would be back in a week and I believe her, _in_ her. So there's nothing to worry about. Let's just focus on Donna."

"Yes, let's," Donna interjected. The Doctor hadn't even realized that they had already reached her.

"Oh, Donna, I'm so sorry!" Pushing aside the issue of Rose the Doctor was still going to lose his best friend; the closest he had ever come to having a sister. The thought of what he was going to have to do to her was going to haunt him for the rest of his very long life.

"Save it string bean, you're not coming anywhere near my head. Martian boy point two over there has already explained your plan and we both decided that that was stupid and came up with one of our own. Your just here to make sure that everything goes well. Blue twig has already thought up a name and all's we need to do is get the proper documentation and the TARDIS will provide that. And have either one of you notice how pissed she is, the TARDIS not Rose. That was obvious, even if I know I should understand why, I can't." Donna finally gasped for air after saying that in one breath.

"Donna, stop, this isn't helping you." The metacrisis cut in before Donna could continue.

"Right," she muttered, "Let's get this over with."

The Doctor looked on in confusion as to what they had planned to do. Before anything happened the metacrisis looked directly at him.

"Listen we don't know if this is going to work the way we want it to, so be prepared for the worst. You better fix what's wrong with Rose because if I don't exist after this I won't be there to fix your mistakes. If I do, then feel free to make as many mistakes as you want. One man's loss is another man's gain, and all that." The last bit was delivered with a cheeky smile. The odd part of it was that it looked like Nine was using his body to do it with, making the smile somewhat mad.

Before the Doctor could question what _exactly_ they had planned Donna and the metacrisis were sitting across from each other. Right as the Doctor opened his mouth to speak they linked hands. That in and of itself wasn't what knocked him off his feet, no that was from the minor explosion of energy that manifested in a blast of blinding light and a concussive wave of air.

The Doctor was just starting to recover when Donna's unconscious body landed on him winding him again. Wriggling out from underneath her and straightening himself out the Doctor noticed that "Handy" was nowhere in sight. Finally standing the Doctor gathered his scrambled thoughts and clothes and found himself staring at a hand, his hand, which was all that was left of the man who had been the closest to having another Time Lord around since the Master.

After lifting Donna onto the table and making her comfortable the Doctor checked to see if there was any lasting damage. While waiting for the results he put "Handy" in a new tank. He had no idea on which was the right thing to do with him, well that wasn't strictly true but he would avoid that choice until he knew more, and so left it for later and turned back to Donna.

The readings he got back were confusing; Donna wasn't human. She also wasn't a Time Lord. What she had been turned into was as if humans had evolved on Gallifrey. Oh, the potential was there for her to become a Time Lord, but that would take years, maybe centuries of learning plus the Rassilon Imputer, which was impossible for her to have. She wasn't as evolved as he was so maybe none of it would work but he could feel her mind humming in the back of his in her comforting brash way.

He needed a moment to take everything in, which was when he realized that he was completely alone and felt completely bereft for a second. His hand felt cold and empty and he needed a good cuppa to handle this and remain intact mentally. Plus he was completely knackered. _Right, to the kitchen._

He was still there a half an hour later stirring his second cup while occasionally tapping Handy's tank and trying to understand what had happened to Rose. Donna had been easy to figure out. Handy and her were still within the first fifteen hours of regeneration and Donna was being destroyed. The regeneration energy that was in the both of them was two halves of the same whole. So when they had connected, they hadn't just physically touched, with the intent to heal Donna must have accidently pulled all of the energy to herself. Causing Handy to revert back into, well, a hand.

Rose was a different matter entirely. He knew it had to do with Bad Wolf that was obvious. What he didn't understand was the implications. He didn't think she was dead but he didn't understand how she willingly broke down her mass into particles of pure energy, let alone her consciousness. Not even he could do that, well he could but he couldn't go back to a physical manifestation of himself after. Could she? Rose had said a week and he was going to hold her to that, no matter that he had no idea how to reverse what he had seen. But he was a Time Lord, even better he was the Doctor and if anyone could do impossible it was him. Except Rose, she seemed to find doing the impossible easy because she was _here_, well relatively, and that was supposed to be very impossible.

All that was left was to figure out the TARDIS. She was furious at him and he had no idea why and every single time that he tried to determine why she kept blocking him mentally and making her even more irritated with him. If he wasn't careful he would end up trapped in this kitchen, which would be awful considering that he had run out of marmalade and hadn't had time to pick up more.

As if to prove how mad at him she was the bananas on the table were replaced with a bowl of pears. He knew when to give up, _women._ Why could they never just come out a say what was wrong. _No,_ a completely innocent Time Lord, like himself, had to guess and human women were worse. You couldn't just read their minds that would make them even more upset with him. Romana was never this difficult, well, yes he suppose she was but not in this way.

Now that he was on the topic of moody people Adric had been terrible towards the end. One minute the boy would have been in a pleasant mood and then for no apparent reason that the Doctor could ever figure out he had terribly rude and a general grump to be around. Almost as moody as Donna or Jackie.

The Doctor paused in his thoughts and rubbed his cheek, it still stung faintly.

Grump, grumpy, sour-puss. No definitely not that one.

"Never use sour-puss," he said out loud then blanched at his own mistake. Looking around to make sure he was still alone he absentmindedly tapped out a rhythm on Handy's tank and then left deciding that he needed rest if he was making those types of mistakes.


	2. Chapter 2

Author Note: Right, second chapter and all that. As a whole the story might ramble a bit because I have only a vague direction of where I want this to go. Quite frankly I didn't realize that people would like it. Like I said before I'm new and have only the smallest understanding of what I'm doing.

P.S. I don't own Doctor Who, please don't sue.

P.S.S. to the reviewer that suggested that the Doctor was tapping the four beats that are associated with the Master, sorry it was just supposed to show how restless the Doctor was/is, but if you want to think of it in that way go right on ahead I don't care.

Donna woke alone in the infirmary. She didn't know whether to be insulted that no one was waiting at her bed side or relieved that there wasn't anyone to see her at what couldn't be her best. She tried running her hand through her hair then thought better of it as her hand snagged too many times. What she needed was a mirror.

That decided, she stood and felt a bit wobbly as if she hadn't stood up in a couple days. Now that she noticed it she felt as if she had been sick recently and her body was still tired from the ordeal, fully capable of functioning, just a little slow. Stretching out a bit of the stiffness, she walked to her room intent on a shower. Donna saw that she was still in her clothes from their latest run in with monsters. No wonder she still smelled.

After that was cleared up and she had a good cup of tea to fortify her; Donna went looking for the Doctor. She found him is his usual spot, under the consol poking and prodding at things she was beginning to suspect didn't need fixing. The TARDIS wasn't helping him much either. It actually seemed that she was fighting him to her greatest ability short of actual bodily harm. Sparks were flying everywhere. So were alien curse words.

"Doesn't seemed to have calmed down any, space-man, so why not leave her alone?" Her question startled the Doctor enough that it allowed the TARDIS to shock him again. The profanity that escaped from his mouth increased exponentially in volume and frequency.

"Oi! Alien-boy I'm talkin' to you. Did it ever occur to you that the reason that she's angry might have something to do with trying to ditch Rose in a parallel world. By the way, where is she anyway?" Donna asked this while she grabbed him by the ankle and pulled him out from underneath the console. It was surprisingly easy, he was very light.

"Donna!" He sounded both excited to see her and indignant at being man-handled.

"Well, if you would just listen to sound advice every once and a while maybe your finger tips wouldn't have burns on them all the time. Just because you're moping or whatever doesn't mean that she wants her internal organs pocked and prodded through, would you? I mean you said that the TARDIS was alive, so she probably doesn't appreciate her wiring being messed with every three minutes. Wait where you ignoring me…"

"Only awake for forty-two minutes and twenty-three seconds and your already telling me what to do. Blimey, you take your title as General very seriously." His smile was large and he was bouncing on the balls of his feet as if he had been forced to hold still for an extended period of time.

Donna glared and mumbled under her breath about her gramps having a big mouth, out loud she said, "James better not use that too, oh who am I kidding he's more like you than me. Where is he by the way?" She studied the Doctor's expression and saw sadness and pain in his eyes that she wasn't expecting.

"Where's Rose? I haven't seen her either. Don't tell me that you dropped them off somewhere. Oh Doctor you did, didn't you…"

"What?"

"I should smack you! I can't believe that you did that to Rose after everything that she must have gone through to get back to your skinny arse." Donna's tone was getting angry. "And I agreed with you! Why the hell would I agree with you, _you_!"

"Oi! Wait just a minute…"

"All of your knowledge crammed into my head and it's like I stop thinking for myself. That's just _wizard_!" The last word was said vehemently to indicate how disgusted with herself she was.

"What! You're not making any sense. Donna, what are you talking about? Where would I leave them? And why did Handy choose that name? Wait, no, that's not important right now, _why _would I leave them?" The Doctor was backing away realizing that any moment now Donna could slap him. He was still recovering from Jackie's latest assault on him nearly twelve hours later.

"I don't know! You tell me?" Her voice was caustic.

"WHAT?"

"Well, you were going to leave them on that beach in that other universe. Who's to say that you wouldn't just drop them off on earth here?"

The Doctor gaped at her, more for the fact that he had never thought of that idea than the fact that Donna had actually suggested that he would have done it. The truth was he probably would have come to that conclusion, if things would have turned out differently.

"Donna, James is gone." It hurt him to say it because no matter the danger that Handy, or James as he apparently had wanted to be called, had presented, he had still been the closest thing to a Time Lord.

"Yeah, like I said …"

"No, Donna, whatever the two of you came up with to save you didn't work the way you wanted it to. He's over there." The Doctor then pointed to the jar with Handy floating in there.

"Oh … Doctor? Are you alright? Why isn't Rose here?" The smile she got in return was genuine if a bit uncertain.

"Donna, don't worry I'm fine, no really, I am." He reassured his companion when he saw her incredulous look because truthfully he was. Confused, befuddled even, but fine as long as Rose came back, which she always seemed to do. So he didn't have to worry, not at all, not even a little. _Weellll_, ok, so that fact that he had no idea what was going on was eating him up inside, but that didn't mean he had to worry Donna.

Changing the subject away from Rose, the Doctor slapped his hands and rubbed them together.

"Sssooo, do you want to know what happened?" His excitement and bounce were back as if he had exciting life altering news to tell her, which he did. Donna plopped herself into the jump seat and nodded at him to proceed.

"Right, where to begin, hmm? James, yes, no, no no no, yes! No, wait, why did he want to be called James?" The expression on the Doctor's face was intense with curiosity and a small bit of sorrow as if he already knew but needed to hear it anyway. It was the sadness that made Donna answer truthfully and not the knee jerk reaction of a snappy comment.

"He said he wanted his name to honor three of his friends. He asked to use my last name. He would have been James Gordon Noble. I guess he never will be now." There was a moment of silence before Donna asked, "Who were the other two people?"

"James for James McCrimmon. Bright lad, Scottish, one of the few companions that would have stayed for the rest of his life. Liked to be called Jamie. The Time Lords took all of his memories of me and sent him home. Everything he had become was taken from him."

The silence that followed was heavy with the Doctor's guilt. He had almost done that to Donna, _Donna. _The closest he had to sister, his best friend. How was he going to deal with the guilt? It would have been no better than the rest of his people? Yes, the circumstances had been different, but he knew Donna. She would have rather died than allow him to do that to her.

Shaking off that thought he continued, "Gordon would be for Brigadier-General Sir Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart. I haven't seen him in, oohhhh, fifty years. Brilliant man, him. He helped me quite a bit after… just after. You know he's the one companion that I've had that has met almost every one of my regenerations."

"After the Time War or after Rose?" Donna butted in.

While the Doctor was debating on whether to answer her or not; Donna grabbed his wrist and started to direct him away from the console room to make their way to somewhere more comfortable to talk in. Donna had the distinct impression that this discussion was going to take quite some time with all of the conversational pit falls he seemed to be tripping into left and right.

The TARDIS brought them to a sitting room that Donna had never seen before. It was filled with plush couches and chairs that reminded Donna of the coffee shops in Chiswick. Waiting on a table between two chairs sat two steaming mugs of tea.

"Well?" Donna prompted him to continue.

"Oh, right, well, the Brigadier, like I said, brilliant man…"

"No," Donna cut him off then took a sip of her tea primly. If he was willing to tell her about past companions then she was going to push as much information out of the swizzle-stick as possible.

The Doctor studied his companion over his mug only vaguely acknowledging that the mug was one he hadn't used in a while, the TARDIS having hidden it from him. It was from Jackie's old flat. Donna was giving him her 'don't even try it, Alien-boy' look that made him realize that he couldn't avoid the question. Why was he telling her this to begin with?

He shifted uncomfortably for a moment then took another sip of tea. He fidgeted a bit more and then glanced up at Donna. Nope, the look was still there. He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck and stared at his shoes building up his courage.

"Both, he helped me through both actually…" The Doctor finally blurted only to be cut off by Donna again. The Doctor frowned, why did people keep doing that to him?

"Good, I'm glad, you needed a friend."

They both then sat in comfortable silence while they finished their tea and worked through their thoughts. The Doctor was relieved that she hadn't pressed for details. There were things that he never wanted to talk about except with maybe one person. It was amazing that Rose, the one person that never pushed for more, was the one person he would be willing to tell everything to. Well, _now, _before he lost her, not so much_. _After she was gone the Doctor had swore to himself that he ever got Rose back he was going to explain everything.

Donna interrupted the silence.

"So are you going to tell me what happened, or am I going to have to slap it out of you?"

"Oh, right! Totally got side-tracked there, it happens quite a bit for me, doesn't it? Even our adventures, mind, those aren't my fault. The TARDIS… she…" he trailed off at Donna's withering look. "Yes, well, Handy, no James, he was only a couple hours old and still filled with regeneration energy, well to be honest both of you were. What I think, no know, he was trying to do was to equalize that energy. Since, you were human when this happened to you, you were not exactly stable and the knowledge that you had gotten from him, well me, through my severed hand before he became him because of you, was burning your mind up. You could have died, Donna." His serious expression faded into one of nervousness when he noticed her narrowed eyes and defensive posture.

"What exactly do you mean _were _human? You make it sound as if I'm not anymore."

"_Weellll_, I was just getting to that," the Doctor said while rubbing the back of his neck. "Er, instead of balancing the energy between the two of you, which I assume was the intention; all of the energy went into you and, well, altered your DNA just a bit. _Weellll,_ when I mean altered I mean changed. And when I say changed I mean completely rewrote. So no, you're no longer human, maybe a bit humanish, but no, not really." The Doctor sat there tugging on his ear and avoiding looking at her completely.

"So that makes me what exactly, a Time Lord?"

"What? No! Donna to become a Time Lord there is years of education, and when I mean years I mean around two hundred depending on the area of study. Time Lord is a title and, well, a subspecies of Gallifrayan, I suppose, that has been genetically altered to handle time manipulation and travel plus bonding with a symbiotic species." He fondly stroked one of the walls and got an aggravated grinding noise for his trouble.

The Doctor sat there pouting over the TARDIS's continued irritation with him until he realized that Donna was staring at him expectantly. He gave her a confused look, not understanding. He already told her what had happened.

"WELL," Donna finally burst out, "if I'm not like you what the hell was I turned into?"

"Oh, right!" Too excited to sit he sprung up and paced, "Your Gallifrayan, not what I used to be, more like a primitive ancestor, sort of. You're what my people where before Rassilon created the Time Lords, back in the Dark Times. I don't know what that means exactly. You might be able to do all sorts of things that were forgotten or purposely lost that I don't even know about."

"That's just _wizard,_ Doctor. So glad someone's excited," she said sarcastically then sighed at his hurt look. "Listen, Doctor, you haven't explained what this means. What am I going to tell my family? Will I stop being me after awhile?"

"No, no, no, no, Donna, if you were going to be different you already would be." He dragged the chair that he had been sitting in previously closer to Donna and sat down close enough to take her hands.

"Listen, you won't change, and even if you could regenerate, which you can't, you would still be you. No matter what you looked like or become. Donna Noble is Donna Noble, no matter what species she is. This doesn't change what you lived through to become the person you are today; it's just the next challenge that you're going to have to face."

Donna gave him a grateful look that quickly turned into amusement.

"God you can be a sap sometimes," her voice softened, "thanks."

The Doctor huffed in annoyance holding on to his jacket lapels then winked at her.

"Anyway, moving on, the only thing I know for certain is that you're going to have a very long life, Donna Noble. Hundreds of years long, the Ancients of my, well our, race were considered immortal and since that's what you mostly resemble there's no telling how long you're going to live. Whatever else you can do or abilities you have, we'll just have to wait and see. Oh, you might also have some psychic abilities so I'm going to have to teach you how to shield yourself before you leave the TARDIS because right now she's handling it for you."

By then the Doctor was back to pacing back and forth. That was when Donna realized that the whole conversation had been used to distract the Doctor from something else he had on his mind. It had failed for the most part. It wasn't that hard to figure out what was bothering him.

"Doctor, where's Rose?"

"She's not here." His tone was flat, a strong indication that he didn't want to talk about it. Donna didn't care.

"She left, as in never coming back, or I'm so pissed at you that I need to leave so I don't strangle you? Because I would completely understand if she needed to cool down for a bit."

"She said she would be back in a week. But I don't understand Donna!" At her dubious expression he hurried to continue, "Not why she was mad. I may have been a bit underhanded, well, if I honest I outright manipulated her, and well, what's wrong with wanting her to be happy? So, yes I might have been wrong. What? I never said I was perfect!" Donna's shocked expression at the admittance causing him to pout.

"Certainly act that way most of the time," was her response to his exclamation.

"That's not the point! She dissolved Donna, dissolved! And I don't know what that means. How could she transform her body into energy? If she didn't, why did the TARDIS do it? What does it mean? I already have a few theories but with the TARIS mad at me she won't help me understand. I guess I'm just worried that Rose is hurt or in trouble or something, I don't even know why I'm telling you this."

Donna was surprised too; he must have been letting that stew for quite a bit for him to explode like that. And now she could see him starting to retreat, already thinking of an excuse to flee his emotional outburst. Donna decided to let him off this time.

"Right, why don't you run off and do whatever you need to do to forget you said anything. And when I come later with tea you're going to sit with me and help me put up barriers or whatever so I can go visit gramps to see if he's alright after this whole Dalek thing and saving all existence."

Despite the Doctor's indignant look at being condescended to, he took the out and swept from the room to go brood somewhere else.

Donna sighed and then to the room at large said, "Why are men such babies?" She then left to go to her room to think about everything the Doctor had told her.

Author's note: wow that took for freeking ever. No worries though, already working on the next one. Can't promise an exact date, sorry. Also I have posted a one shot (shameless plug) that connects to this story and have been told by my Beta to add Random Jump (shameless plug) and other one-shots like it into the actual story as interludes. What do you think? If not I can keep them separate as random companion pieces. Please let me know.


	3. Chapter 3

Author's Note: I'm getting better at this! I cover a bunch of stuff about Time Lords/ Gallifreyans that are not cannon to the series in this chapter, but considering that there is virtually no info on how they lived in their everyday lives I decided to make up my own. If it seems familiar to anyone else's ideas, sorry it is not intentional. Also I have never read the novel _Lungburrow_ if you consider it cannon; sorry you're not going to see it here. If not, then lucky you!

Disclaimer: Don't own, don't sue. Thanks a bunch.

It had been three days of intense study and practice of what psychic abilities that Donna now had. Her budding abilities, once uninhibited by the TARDIS, had effected the Doctor far more than they had phased Donna, granted she wasn't the one that had been constantly invaded by in outside force that had no idea what they were doing. Plus, she wasn't even trying to read his mind, it was completely accidental. So while the Doctor had a headache for days she hardly felt a thing.

That was until the Doctor figured out how she was doing it. Since the regeneration energy had actually come from him in the first place, Donna had, in essence, become a part of him, sort of. More accurately she had bits of his energy floating around in her still that had not been absorbed by her yet. So, like called to like, and mentally it allowed her to easily sneak in through the back door, figuratively.

The best way to explain it to Donna had been to explain Gallifreyan bonds, there was more than one. Much to her irritation it had taken her several hours to drag all the needed explanations out of him. The actual practical information that she needed to protect her mind from others he gave willingly and at great length, but anything that even touched on something personal Donna had to pin him to his chair in the kitchen or library or wherever they were at to stop him from fleeing. To be fair, Donna had learned a great deal about the Doctor's early life on Gallifrey through his explanations.

The first thing he explained was that by the time that he was born most bonds no longer existed. Not that they were incapable of happening but through rigid rules on social interaction, bonds had been looked down on, at worst, and considered eccentric at best. There were two major delineations in bonds, familial and romantic.

The Doctor only glossed over the romantic type. He explained that _it was not done_, and acted the prude he was. Seriously, the poor man was incredibly repressed. The only other thing that he explained about it was that there were several steps to accomplish that particular bond and it was the one that was the most looked down upon because it was the only bond that a Gallifreyan actively chose to implement. Romantic bonds involved, well, _romance, _that meant the expression of all those emotions, namely love, that most Time Lords kept bottled up inside.

The second type was what the Doctor spent the most time discussing. As far as Donna could understand the most common and the weakest bond in the grouping was a 'House' bond. Every Time Lord belonged to a House through either blood or adoption. The bond formed with everyone that belonged to that house though constantly being around each other. It was like picking up your best friend's habits because you spent a lot of time together, like imprinting. It was stronger if you shared an actual blood relation.

The rest of the bonds were delegated to the smaller family unit. The bond between a mother and child was supposed to be incredibly strong, but had been greatly reduced, even into nonexistence, through the use of looms. The bond between father and child, while not instant like a mother's bond, was supposed to develop rapidly. And again both the parental bonds were reduced due to the induction into the academy at the age of eight. Donna couldn't even begin to imagine what it was like to be separated from her parents to go live in a boarding school at that young of an age. And to think that Time Lords could be in school till their second century!

This was where Donna learned that he was an orphan and that had been adopted into a house through marriage. The only memory of his blood parents that he had was vague at best and only of his father. She had asked him if he ever wondered who his mother was and was shocked at his apathy. Apparently being an orphan wasn't that odd in Time Lord Society. Most children were loomed just to boost the population because Time Lords were so long lived natural children were very rare. After the looms were invented they became virtually unheard of.

Sibling bonds he only had a vague understanding of considering that he had never had a blood related sibling himself, even though he had apparently had become close friends with one of his brother-in-laws or something. He had started to get twitchy and purposely non-descriptive at this point.

And the information was all well and good but didn't actually describe what was connecting them. To which he described something he had only ever read about considering that due to looms this type of bond no longer existed at all. Every other type had a chance of happening except this.

"Twin bond," the Doctor said as he wirily rubbed the back of his neck.

"What exactly is _that?"_ By then Donna had become so enthralled with all the personal information that she was receiving that she was at the edge of her seat with excitement. And apparently, since she was excited he was too.

"It's exactly how it sounds, a bond shared by twins. It's supposed to be one of the strongest, not many things can interfere with it. The only one that I can think of is the one shared with partners." He sat for a moment rubbing his chin and tousling his hair as he thought. "What I think is happening is this. The energy that you got from James that is still in you is recognizing me as family, namely your twin, because that energy originally came from me. It's identical! Hopefully, your body will eventually convert all the energy to your particular, hmm… I guess wavelength is the best word, maybe signature, which will lessen the bond's strength. And maybe I'll be able to have some peace and quiet. Blimey, you're really loud."

The next several hours were spent going through drills to teach her control. Apparently, she was a stronger telepath than him, which was why he was having such a hard time keeping her out. Donna was confused at first as to why she wasn't hearing or seeing anything from him until he explained that she was projecting here every thought, waking or sleeping, directly into his head. She didn't need anymore motivation than that to work really hard to get herself under control. Donna had never been so embarrassed in her life.

After three days they decided to test her new skills on unsuspecting bystanders. They went to the coffee shop near her home in Chiswick. The Doctor was monitoring her progress and if everything went well she would phone her gramps to meet them here. Two hours had passed by the time the Doctor declared her worthy.

Wilf reached them fifteen minutes later, though he wasn't alone. A young man in a tweed suit came with him. Wilf led him over to their table.

"This young man was just telling me about some of them aliens he's met!" Wilf was practically hopping with excitement while the young man winked at the Doctor.

"Oh no, no no nononono, NO!" With the last shout the Doctor jumped up and pointed at the young man. "What are you doing here? Why are you here? How did I go? Was it at least a good death? No don't tell me I don't want know, _wweelll,_ I do, but that's not important."

"You're right, that's not important. I'm only here for two reasons. Reason number one: she should get thirteen roses. It's not going to alter the time/space continuum, but she deserves them anyway. I've already given her mine; you're in charge of your own. The second, notice how I didn't say b, _see_, new and improved," he paused to straighten his bow tie, "time is being rewritten and soon I won't even exist. At least not the way I am now! Since things are going to change you need to remember one thing and listen because this is the important bit. DON'T take Amy and Rory with you on their wedding night. Right, that should just about cover it, though I'm pretty sure there was something I wanted to do if I ever came across you, hmm…"

"Hold on a second? Did you just say that you weren't going to exist?" A ginger haired woman said as she walked up. "And who's this?" She finished with a sultry tone.

"Amy!" The name was said with exasperation from a tall thin man who was following after the red-head.

"Amy, Rory, meet me, not now I'll explain later. Trust me, he's a Doctor. That was fun, wonder if I'll ever get to say that again. More importantly, I'm missing something and I'm not one to miss the obvious," tweed and bow-tie wondered off in thought. Rory snorted in the background with amusement that was ignored by both Doctors.

"Doctor, stop trying to distract me. What do you mean, not exist?" Amy demanded.

"Well, it seems that because of what is happening here, I remember!" As Eleven interrupted himself with glee he also swung his fist around and hit Ten in the jaw. This knocked Ten into the booth where he had been sitting. Donna and Wilf stared in shock that was mirrored by Amy and Rory.

Every companion there was confused as to the Doctor's violent reaction towards himself, particularly since Eleven looked so gleeful despite how painful his fist was hurting him. Wilf took it upon himself to shoo away spectators while the two Doctors glared at each other.

"What the hell did you hit him for?" Donna burst out with anger and confusion. Even if this man was the Doctor she wasn't going to let him get away with smacking himself around. Her friend already hurt himself enough to add actual physical harm to it.

"Because of him my hand is cold," Eleven said in a cold serious voice. Ten's expression turned immediately guilty.

"What the hell does that mean?" Donna demanded.

"Donna, drop it," Ten interjected, "just, just drop it. I'm fine; he didn't really hit me that hard."

"You can't honestly think that you deserved that. You do! And what kind of reasoning is that to hurt yourself? What is wrong with you that you just take it? Listen to me skinny, if I see you do something like that again I'm gonna smack you so hard Jackie would hear it and clap in appreciation." Donna had stood up in her tirade to shout at them equally. Her last statement was said quietly and with great menace.

Eleven paled and looked terrified, confused, and overwhelmingly happy all at once.

"Donna, you're okay!" She was completely unprepared when he hugged her even if it was rather short. He leaned away, took out his screwdriver, and started to scan her while he continued to talk. "But how are you okay? You remember, that's obvious, so what happened to you that allowed you to stabilize?"

"Oi! What did I say about you blipping me with that thing?" Eleven ignored her and continued to read the scans that his screwdriver was giving him; it earned him a light smack to the back of the head. All that the action brought about was a smile aimed at her.

"Handy, well, James, fixed everything," Ten supplied for him. Eleven nodded in thanks and continued looking at his scans trying to wrap his mind around what they were telling him. The next thing everyone knew both Doctors where deep in conversation with each other using a language that none of them recognized and the TARDIS wouldn't translate.

"Hello," Rory started awkwardly as he realized that they were not going to be able to pull their Doctor out of the conversation with him…self. This was starting out to be a very strange day and that was saying something when you traveled with the Doctor.

"That's nice. How could you two let him get this way?"

"Donna!" Wilf admonished.

"Not now, gramps! I put a lot of work into Space-man over there only to see that these twits have let him get like that after I'm gone! I'm not having it. He probably doesn't even trust them enough to tell them who Rose is because obviously their Doctor doesn't still have her or me for that matter."

"Err…well, no, not exactly, but he usually does tell Amy things." Rory had no idea what to do, he thought that Amy was scary, but this woman terrified him. It was like being inspected by the Doctor's family and they were found wanting. He looked to Amy to see her reaction and was surprised at the hurt and confused expression on her face.

"Who is Rose? He's never said anything about her," Amy said quietly, but Rory noticed the anger that was building in her eyes.

"Listen," Donna said in a softer tone, "don't beat yourself up over it. He's been really messed up since the Time War and …you have no idea what that is either." She finished her sentence with an exasperated sigh. "Alright, go get some tea and sit down and I'll explain everything that I know and what he probably won't mind me telling you. We have time because it looks like they'll be a while."

A half an hour, two cups of tea and a plate of biscuits later Donna was just finishing filling them in with what she knew.

"But if he has Rose, what about River?" Amy didn't know if she should be mad or not. No wonder he always ran from her. If the Doctor was still in love with someone the prospect of seeing your future wife must have hurt quite a bit.

"That woman?" Donna asked at the same time Ten said, "Not my problem."

He completely missed Eleven's panicky hand waves that Two would have been proud of. As it was, Ten plopped down next to Donna and stole all of the biscuits she had left and drank the rest of her tea, and even had the nerve to grimace at the taste when he realized it was coffee. Before he could spit it back into the cup Donna slapped her hand over his mouth with a glare and snagged her cup back.

He swallowed with disgusted look on his face then proceeded to wipe his tongue on his jacket sleeve.

"You better watch yourself, Martian, or I'm going to replace all of your marmalade with marmite." At his horrified look she deemed him properly chastised.

"Watch how you talk about River," an angry Scottish voice cut into their childish display.

"Yeah," Rory added, "that's our daughter your talking about!" No matter how long he knew that fact it was always going to feel odd to Rory to say something like that.

"What!" Both the Doctor and Donna said it at the same time.

"Didn't expect that did you now," Amy taunted.

"Stop," Eleven interjected, "they can't know that. More importantly, Ponds pay attention. Your cozy little world could be rewritten just like that," he snapped his fingers. "That also applies to anyone's personal time line and I've already said that I don't want to marry River. Don't take this the wrong way but she is everything that I don't agree with. I respect her, even like her to some degree, but I could never truly feel anything for her romantically without feeling forced. That isn't love."

"So you would choose Rose over River," Amy pressed. And despite the shock that Amy clearly saw across his face at Rose's name, she also saw a mixture of emotions that she had never seen in his eyes before. They held such a strong sense of longing and devotion, a look that she knew Rory gave her whenever he thought she wasn't looking. But there was also fear, hope, joy, and a little bit of awe mixed in as well that put any emotion that her Doctor ever showed anyone to shame. It was as if he had been hiding the whole entire time she knew him because it hurt too much to be himself.

"Amelia Pond, every second of every day, you only find someone like Rose Tyler once in your life," Eleven's tone was wistful.

"Alright then, where is she? You, in the pinstripes, why isn't she here?" Amy demanded more than asked.

"Amelia Pond, always asking the right questions," Eleven praised.

"Well, you see, this is where it gets a bit complicated," Ten said as he started to tug on his ear.

"He doesn't know, but she'll be back in a week," Donna interjected.

"Yes, thank you, Donna. I could have handled it. Well, that's also not strictly true, she's on the TARDIS and yes, she'll be back in a week. No worries, she eats impossible for breakfast so she'll be there," his voice was confident. Donna and Eleven could tell otherwise but left it alone.

"So I'm guessing the reason why you're here, well we're here, is because of the space/time anomalies that are randomly appearing and disappearing. And I'm guessing that the cause if it is somewhere in Chiswick, but whatever is causing it is getting harder to contain which is why I'm crawling all over the place. Time is bleeding and soon, if those anomalies become any larger they will consume this world. Am I right, I'm right aren't I. No wait, it's not that simple, it never is. It's not just time and space that are bleeding, it's all of reality. Really, the universe picks now to do this! Donna, didn't we just save everyone four-ish days ago. Really it's been about three days, twenty-two…"

"Um… how did you work that out? Only, it's just that the Doctor, that one anyway, said that you still had to figure that out, and the only thing that we've been doing for the past forty-five minutes is sit in a coffee shop. I'm only asking because our Doctor isn't that good. I mean he has to poke around for a bit before he figures anything out."

"Hay!" Eleven glared at Rory.

"Oh, I like him. When do we pick him up? I'm so glad you asked, Rory wasn't it? Well, on the way in I spotted a small hole that was a rip in the fabric of reality, apparently, and stopped here to keep an eye on it. Wouldn't do to have some human blunder into a different dimension or reality, no one would come back to this little shop if that happened," Ten explained.

"Right, so these holes, what would they look like then?" Rory asked suspiciously, the Doctor was the Doctor, so could be having a go at him. It didn't matter what he looked like.

Ten smiled and pointed at the wall near the ceiling right above their booth.

"H… How did you notice that?" Rory asked as he stumbled away from the table.

"Don't worry so much. It's too small right now to do much of anything. It's when it starts to pull all the silverware in the restaurant in that we need to start worrying. It generates an electromagnetic field that will eventually start to pull anything metal towards it and through to the other side. Which, if you think about it, is actually quite fascinating because, you might ask, what is on the other side? Hhmm… more importantly what can come here from over there? I wonder what could be reaching out of the dark."

He glanced up and saw everyone giving him odd looks, except himself. They were all staring at them as if he had walked over their graves.

"Don't DO that!" Donna's exclamation was coupled with a smack to the arm. "How can you make me feel so completely creped out in broad daylight?"

"What is it, hit Ten day?" The pinstriped whined.

"If you're not careful with Nine…," Eleven trailed off after he heard what he had said. His expression put to mind one word 'oops'.

"Right, remember to duck, apparently. I thought you said that I have a good day ahead of me?" Ten's voice was edged with irritation.

"Oh, you know how things could change," Eleven shrugged with his response.

"_Brilliant_! With that in mind I think it's time to go our separate ways. Divide and conquer seems to be the order of the day. I'll just start here," Ten's voice was falsely chipper.

Eleven nodded his head in agreement; he also was starting to feel the mental strain of dealing with himself. He ushered Amy and Rory towards the door despite Amy's protest.

"What the hell was that about?"

"Donna _that_ was regeneration. Not the worse I've ever been, been better too, though. I mean obviously my fashion sense is on the decline again and, well, this body is certainly foxier," the Doctor waggled his eyebrows then continued, "Such a shame I turn into an idiot. I mean come on; he's wearing tweed and a _bow-tie!"_

From the direction of the door the other Doctor called back, "She thinks bow-ties are _cool,_ remember." And Ten did remember, it had been when he had put on the Tux-of-Doom for the first time.

"Right, all that I saw was a tall, skinny geek that liked to show off and talk too much. You really never change, do you?" Her grandfather laughed even though he was still confused.

"Donna, you haven't seen anything yet," the Doctor said with a cheeky grin.

After leaving himself behind, Eleven started to wander down the street ahead of his companions. Now that he was out of the vicinity of his previous self he could feel his memories change to the new timeline he was on. Just to be sure he was going to do something that was probably risky but he lived his life that way.

He soon found what he was looking for and turned to his companions.

"Right, stay here. I'll be right back, I need to pick something up," he lied.

"But Doctor that's not where you parked the TA-," Rory was cut off.

"Won't be a moment," he shouted as he shut the door behind him. It locked without him even needing to ask. "Thanks, old girl," he said as he stroked the inside of the door.

"You're welcome, and you can drop the old girl thanks," Rose's cheeky reply rang in his ears. She was actually here! He hadn't been sure until now that she was, but she was leaning against the console giving him her most beautiful smile. He couldn't resist going to her and even without having to ask she took his hand in hers. They still fit perfectly, even after his regeneration.

"Did you really think that it wouldn't?" If he didn't know any better he would have thought that she could read his mind. "Even this you was made for me, yeah. So don't go worrying about things like that."

He thought about asking her haw she could possibly know that but decided on a different question.

"I thought you would still be mad." _Are you mad at this me? _He wondered if she could hear his unspoken question, she had only ever met this him once. It had been after he had dropped off Amy and Rory but before he had visited Craig. It had been one of her jumps when she had still been looking for him. It had taken all his restraint not to tell her what he was going to do.

At the time he hadn't even been sure that she knew who he was and he had planned to leave it that way. But even across the street she had recognized him and in a move that had confused him at first had ducked into a nearby store. She emerged a short time later and had practically skipped over to see him.

Before he could say anything she had reached up and kissed him, it had been light and quick and looking back on it probably meant to make him so flustered he couldn't speak. It had worked. In fact he had been so unbalanced by the move that he hadn't realized she had been playing with one of his jacket lapels until she had leaned back and smiled at him. She then had vanished right in front of him.

He had felt crushed all over again. How many times was he going to lose her before he got to keep her for good? And when he saw what she had put through his button hole he knew that it didn't matter how many. She had given him a blue rose, how that store had had one he would never know, but it had given him hope. The meaning of a single blue rose was this, it meant _the impossible._

"Why would I be angry at _you_? For you it's been how many years since the beach? It wouldn't be worth it. Besides I'm not even mad at _him_ anymore, alright maybe a bit but really it's because I'm so tired. So, this you likes fish fingers and custard together, and wears bow-ties. Nice hair and pretty eyes, they remind me of Eight. You're kind o' fluttery like Two, yeah, didn't like hearing that did you."

She hugged him and continued speaking, "You can be a bit mean like Nine at times but not in the same way. You lecture like Three but almost at the speed of Ten. And you're a bit goofy like Four but nowhere near as weird. My point is this, every Doctor is _my_ Doctor and I've met 'em all. I learned my lesson from the first time I saw you regenerate; you're you no matter how much you sometimes want to pretend you're different people."

She stopped hugging him but continued to hold his hand while she started to pull him to the door.

"Come on your companions are waiting," she said as she pushed him up against the door. She stood on the tips of her toes and whispered in his ear, "So just remember, you're _my beautiful idiot_!"

Before he could react he was pushed outside and the doors were shut in front of him, locked.

"What!" At that moment he didn't care that he sounded exactly like Ten. And as he was walking away, ignoring Amy and Rory's questions, he could still hear her laughing at him. It sounded like the beautiful song of the universe.

Author's Note: I'll say it now; I do not support River/Doctor. If you don't like it I don't care! You are reading the wrong story if you can't stand Rose/Doctor shipping. But that doesn't mean that I don't like River, I do. She's a space Indiana Jones, what's not to love. I just think that when it comes down to it, that meeting someone who knows your personal future like she does is open for a lot of abuse. The only thing he gets to know are these vague hints and only from her. What if she's lying? She's a psychopath why wouldn't she! And since he's a Time Lord he probably feels obligated or something stupid like that. It just seems forced and fake to me.

On the other hand, the way that Rose's potential is just let go drives me nuts. Yeah, I know it was because the actor left, but come on Bad Wolf was epic and then you get these little hints that it might still be there, and then you get that whopping one in Turn Left. Then Rose is stuck in a little blue glow-y prison for the entire episode. It was a complete let down.

I refuse to talk at length about the beach scene. Just two words, _**plot holes**_. A huge gapping one actually.

I've ranted long enough, sorry!

Meaning behind the roses that have been used so far:

Blue: Mystery & Ambiguity, The impossible or The unattainable, "You are extraordinarily wonderful", Mysterious beginnings of new things

I can't credit this source but I'm sure it's on Wikipedia somewhere.


	4. Chapter 4

Author's Note: Christ, I'm already on four. Sorry about the info dump last time, it was necessary and hey it was longer! Yes, eventually all previous Doctors will be seen, if not necessarily heard (if you want to see more of them go to my other connecting series Random Jump). It will take me a while because I have to re-watch episodes to make sure I do their "voices" right. I watched all of season 5 just to do Eleven, Amy, and Rory. I hope I did them well.

Disclaimer: Don't own, don't sue. Thanks a bunch (this is getting repetitive).

Two hours later the Doctor and Donna had dropped off Wilf at home after handling the anomaly in the coffee shop. That had involved the Doctor standing on the table and making a big scene while he fiddled with his sonic screwdriver trying to find the right setting. Donna was never going to be able to go back there, which was a shame because they made really great coffee.

Since then Donna was following the Doctor around her old neighborhood. He had some strange device in his hand that apparently was helping him track these anomalies. Of course, when he had explained what it actually did he had gone on a small rant. Donna had had a really hard time stopping herself from slapping him. She hated his techno-babble speeches.

As far as she could tell the thing wasn't even working. It wasn't leading them to any anomalies. Donna was getting really tired of walking in circles and decided that enough was enough.

"So this is your plan. You're just going to wander around in circles until you find something!" Donna's exasperation was edging towards anger.

"Oh, well, this little gizmo supposed to find anomalies or maybe its wormholes?" The Doctor response was absentminded as he stood there scratching the back of his head. He suddenly focused on her and pointedly said, "It's in _development_, besides my plans always work. You know that I have the history to back that up."

"You mean when your first, second, and third plan falls to pieces as you go along and you fly by the seat of your pants, _those_ plans?"

"Yes if you must, no wait, no that's not what I mean at all. Donna Noble, you don't know what you're saying. My plans are complete… oh no, no, no, nonono, why that one!" The last bit was said to the world in general.

Donna caught what the Doctor was looking at and gapped at the sheer loudness of the coat that was walking in their direction. Under the caustic coat was a well built man of moderate height with curly blond hair and striking blue eyes. Despite, the man's bearlike build his face was surprisingly delicate looking. The intense expression on his face made him look a bit dangerous. Donna was put in mind of angels sent down to smite humanity for their sins.

"Wait, so that's you? _Woof,_ not bad! Well except the clothes I mean what were you thinking that jacket is hideous by itself and you decided to add yellow and brown stripes. All the same the man underneath…"

"_Donna!_" The Doctor sounded completely scandalized and looked a bit green as he cut her off, "That's me you're talking about!" He finished with a squeak. He had also drawn away from her as if she had turned into something creepy and disgusting that scared him.

It took Donna a full minute to stop laughing at him out loud and another to stop trembling with suppressed mirth. By then the man with the radioactive jacket and his companion where within hearing distance.

"_Peri_, if something of this dubious nature is occurring I'm bound to be around here somewhere, and quite frankly I won't be able to manage without me." The Doctor's voice was incredibly conceited.

"Are you going to switch around pronouns again?" The young woman with him asked. "And what are you fiddling with now?"

"All have you know, I'm using the time distortion tracker to try and locate these nefarious ruffians who are causing these anomalies."

"How's that working out for you?" Peri's response was sarcastic. "I mean really, Doctor, don't you think we're wasting time wandering like this?"

"_Wasting time_! **Wasting time!** _**WASTING TIME! **_ Of course I'm not _wasting time_! As soon as I discover who is behind this you'll see that I never waste… see I was right, another me. Not someone I've been yet, though I doubt it is an improvement." Six finished by interrupting himself when he noticed Ten coming closer. "As I was saying, I do not waste time and now that there is more than one of me about, just as I thought, things will go all the faster!"

"More like slow us down," Peri muttered.

"Nonsense, come along," the Doctor said dismissing her complaint.

"I changed my mind. You're not that attractive in that form. He's obnoxious," Donna said to Ten as they approached the other two people.

"Thank yo- OI!" Ten then proceeded to pout at her as she laughed at him. He then spun around and addressed himself.

"Right then, nice to bump into you we'll just be on our way," Ten said in a hurry abruptly changing moods. He didn't like dealing with himself in large doses, especially Six and One.

"Now wait just one minute, and where do you think I'm going?" Six asked in a patronizing manner.

"We're sort of in a rush and it seems that the old divide and concur method is in favor for this one, so off we go," Ten said brushing off what Six had asked and started to steer Donna forward.

"Doctor, how many times are you going to change?" Peri asked. "I mean it's getting kinda ridiculous."

"After me, seven more times, not that it will matter. I'm sure that things have only gone downhill once I'm gone." Six said arrogantly to his companion.

"I guess I'm just of being so confused all the time when it come to you. Why do you have to talk in riddles all the time?" Peri continued to complain.

"Not now, Peri. Can't you see that I need to talk to myself. He probably doesn't even realize that whatever is causing this is setting up a search grid with these odd portals," Six's imperious voice chastised his companion.

Ten flinched, he hadn't actually noticed that, but he was sure that he had been close to discovering that for himself. _Well_, metaphorically speaking, actually no it was literally this time. Both times actually, once as his sixth self and once as his self. It was always so irritating dealing with more than one of him. It was a good thing that he wasn't irritating towards other hims.

Donna smirked at her Doctor's expression realizing that as annoying as the other him was he had been right and her Doctor _had_ been wandering randomly. Still, if her Doctor had talked to her the way his previous self had just talked to his companion he would have gotten a slap to knock the smug right out of him.

"Oi! Thanks for the info but if you talk like that to her again in front of me I'm gonna knock you on your arse." Donna was always one to tell people exactly how she felt.

"I beg your pardon," Six said incredulously with a slight pout on his face.

"Donna, no don't just don't," Ten said quietly to her.

"Don't shush me! You're a giant space jerk treating your companion like that," she yelled at Ten.

"Why are you yelling at me, he did it!" Ten yelled back.

Donna stared at him for a second then nodded at him, "You're right." She faced Six and continued, "Well, what do you have to say for yourself?"

"Listen, whoever you are, no don't say anything I cannot know who you are yet, how I speak to my companions is between them and me. And I will not be talked down to by some middle aged women who fancy's herself an explorer!" Six railroaded over Donna's building exclamation of anger.

Ten groaned and gave up holding Donna back. He supposed he deserved what was coming to him and was grateful that he wouldn't remember what was going to happen to him next. Yes, there was the distinct sound of flesh hitting flesh.

Ignoring the building fight Ten turned to Peri who was standing there awkwardly watching the ensuing carnage. "Ten quid on Donna," he said as he nudged Peri with his elbow. It caused her to snort and laugh.

"I must admit it's the first time that I've ever seen him look like he doesn't know what hit him." She seemed really impressed.

"Oh, no that's easy. Donna isn't very hard to miss when she slaps you. Plus, her shouting, and when I say shouting I mean screaming, well, when I say screaming I mean screeching is a dead giveaway that she's mad at you. It's knowing what to do to make her stop doing the screeching and the slapping that's confusing," he said sincerely.

"I like this you, Doctor," Peri said smiling and bumped him back with her elbow.

"What's not to like! Look at me; tall, lean, not skinny no matter what Donna says, and definitely foxy. And let's not forget how brilliant I am." He waggled his eyebrows at her, causing her to laugh out right.

"My god Doctor, you never really change do you," Peri said while laughing. After their amusement faded, he eyed her solemnly. He really felt guiltily for what happened to her. She was one of the few companions that he had out right abandoned, even if it was through no real fault of his own. He wondered if her family ever got over her disappearance.

"Peri, I'm so sorry," Ten said. It hadn't happened to her yet but he would always regret what had happened to her at the end. And it was coming soon he could tell from what she was wearing that they were either on their way to Ravolox or had just come from it. Considering the mud on her shoes the Doctor was certain they had just left.

"What's wrong Doctor?" Peri's question was filled with worry.

"I treated you very flippantly recently and I want you to know that you had every right to be upset about finding Earth burned to a crisp. I never considered, well, a lot of things, but I want you to know that I do truly understand how you felt in that moment and have regretted belittling your emotions. I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry," Ten spoke quietly hoping that his voice was covered up by Donna's irritated screeching.

"What? Doctor? What do you mean?" Peri frowned in confusion.

"Don't worry about it," he shrugged and pulled away to go rescue himself from Donna. He had one thing left to tell himself and he couldn't do that if Donna killed him.

"Right, completely unrelated, you need to go buy a rose. Stop, let me explain," he held up his hand to forestall Six's questions. "In my previous incarnation we pick up someone that's just brilliant and she deserves a rose from each of us. So if you see an us with big ears and a battered leather jacket you need to give the women he's traveling with a rose, trust me you'll understand when you see her."

"What on earth are you talking about, why that jacket?" Six's voice was incredulous and a bit distracted. "And really, getting a companion flowers, roses even. If you were going to pick something we should at least be a bit more original."

"I know, not the greatest of choices. All the same we seem to be able to pull of the black leather look. It gives us a sort of broo-" Ten started to babble ignoring the comment about the flowers and focusing on the coat comment. Six started to talk over him.

"Not him you idiot, what are _you_ wearing! Why would you wear that jacket-"

"Janis Joplin gave us this co-"

"with pinstripes and are those _trainers_? Did I lose all sense when I became you? And really wha-," Six was starting to wind up to one of his rants and both of them were talking over the other.

"Oi! What are those on your feet then? That's right under those ridiculous spats, trainers. Their good for running, and if I'm any judge you might want to do a bit more. You're starting to look a bit pudgy there." Ten shot back at himself ignoring Donna's groan of frustration.

"And somehow I turn into a skinny idiot that babbles about everything that comes to mind! Not only are you inanely loquacious you are exceedingly boorish." Six said back vehemently. "Why even your base elocution lends to the belief that have turned rather insipid."

Unnoticed due to their arguing they both missed the two companions share a long suffering look.

"And I thought that Space-man was offal at times, but lady, yours certainly takes the cake. He's terrible. How do you put up with him? You must have the patience of a saint. I would have slapped him a few already. Actually I already have. I suppose that says something about my restraint." Donna said. Both companions were now ignoring their Doctors.

"He's not all bad. Okay, yeah he has his moments, a lot of moments, and he never explains what's going on. But really he's not all that bad," Peri said hopefully and smiled.

"Who are you trying to convince, me or you? Anyway, I think their bickering has gone on long enough. You grab yours and I'll grab mine." They shared a nod and hauled the two men in different directions as they both tried to continue yelling at each other.

When they got around the corner Donna shoved the Doctor a bit. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"What's wrong with me? Donna you-" the Doctor cut himself off and began hopping on one leg holding his shin. Donna gave him an odd look, not understanding what had just happened.

"You know, it's rather rude to shove someone into another person, young lady. Now what do you have to say for yourself, hmmm?" An old man stood holding a cane in right hand. The cane that had just recently given the Doctor a very sound thump.

Author's Note: Sorry for the delay a lot of things have been happening. My dad had brain surgery, one of my grandmas died and my family is getting the house ready for the funeral, I had an accounting exam and a seven min. long song to memorize in Chinese. All in one week this does not include work or homework. So you can see right now my life is a bit of a mess which is why this chapter is so short. I tried to get all the info I needed to convey in the in the shortest amount of typing. Plus Six is a pain in the ass to write, let me tell you. His speech is so flower-y and I have never been good with that type of bullshit, I dread typing Three for any length of time. On a positive note I have a chapter already typed up, bad news it's not the next one, sorry. My muse goes out of order and my Beta wanted me to go into a certain order for this and the next chapter and I agree with her opinion on whose next.

So here's a question to all of my reviewers, the small lot of you that have reviewed I love you bunches. After this next chapter which Doctor do you want next? Let me know.


	5. Chapter 5

Author Note: Ta Da! Huzzah for the next chapter.

Disclaimer: Don't own, don't sue. Thanks a bunch (this is repetitive).

"You know, it's rather rude to shove someone into another person, young lady. Now what do you have to say for yourself, hmmm?" An old man stood holding a cane in his right hand; the cane that had just recently given the Doctor a very sound thump.

"Then why didn't you hit her?" The Doctor whined, "And why, _why_ does this keep on happening." The last bit was directed at the sky as if it would open up and give him the answers he sought. The universe, keeping in tradition when dealing with him, gave him no answers or slack.

"Oi! Some gentleman you are. And really you've got to be kidding me. That's you! What is he, your last regeneration? I mean no offence," she directed to the elderly man, "but you look _old._ You said you never aged."

"Excuse me Miss…" he trailed off expectantly.

"Don't tell him… oh what's the point! You're just going to tell him anyway," Donna could hear the defeat in the Doctor's voice.

"Donna Noble," she introduced herself. Of course she was going to ignore him, companion's rights.

"Miss Noble, I am the original article if you will. He is, in fact, me hmm… Ah, I see, yes. So you're the one that lost her," One said then smacked Ten on the shin again with his cane.

"Ow! Hey! Stop doing that. Who do I look like, Ian?" Ten said as he once again found himself rubbing his shin. How had he hit the exact same spot as the first time? Luckily, he'd heal too quickly to bruise.

"Young man, you caused quite a bit of trouble for me and a great deal of grief for her. You had better start to listen to her a bit more, hmm. For one, you would be able to fly the TARDIS with a bit more skill."

"A bit more skill! You can't even figure out how to get where you want to go. That doesn't happen until our third form."

The muttered, "like you do," that came from Donna was completely ignored.

"I beg your pardon? Why would I dare to actually take control of where we were going? That is her decision and to take that from her is despicable! What has happened to me that I have been reduced to the common denominator? I have always prided myself that I was different, even separate, from the rest of the Time Lords and here you are just another ignorant copy that Gallifrey mass produces. Have you no recollection of what it was like to be me?" One's voice was thunderous and caused many people's heads to turn.

"_**WHAT!**_" Ten's voice cracked and he forced himself to calm down and clear his throat. Yes, he was mad but that was due to Six, not that One wasn't irritating him especially with the smacks with his cane, but he was more confused than angry at his youngest form.

Ten tried again, "No, well, yes, well, sort of. I remember the events and even what was said but some of the thoughts that went behind the actions are still lost to me. Even more so the life I lead with, well on Gallifrey is fragmented at best. Er, something that Two does, _weelll,_ both you and Two, well really all of us still do, causes the High Council to punish us. Part of that is most of our knowledge of how the TARDIS works is stripped from us. They pretty much just blundered in and yanked out what they thought was important. But what does this have to do with Rose?"

"The High Council you say, hmm. And this information was it deposited into the Matrix for use later?" One questioned softly in thought. He seemingly wandered away in his thoughts if not physically while he idly tapped his chin.

"I'm not sure but it hardly matters anyway. More than likely all the information that was taken was common knowledge and was already in the Matrix more or less … what? What is that look for?" One was giving him a withering stare as if he had been doomed to regenerate into an idiot.

"Hmm… What was that? What was that? Use your brain, young man! Why would they leave our memories so hazy if they didn't want us to remember something important, even dangerous! Now think boy, think," his tone was firm and patronizing. "What do you know about the current situation?"

Ten found the topic change annoying but moved with it anyway. He knew that he wasn't going to get anymore help from his younger self concerning Rose. He wasn't even sure he got any information that helped, just the conformation that he was still missing memories. He would have to focus on that later. Considering that he had probably a grand total of one hundred years collectively missing it was defiantly a project to work on later.

"Something or someone is looking for someone or something using time/space anomalies as windows, no portals to reach here," Ten answered.

"Right, right, so nothing," One said and then mused silently to himself as if debating on what to divulge. Donna snickered at the affronted look on Ten's face.

"He's a bit grumpy, but I like him. He puts you in your place, keeps your ego a healthy size," Donna said cheerfully.

"You're not going to like him when he suggests that you go home because it's too dangerous or that you should always have someone with you to protect you." Ten replied merrily to Donna's statement.

"Why because I'm human, sort of? Still getting used to that," Donna assumed.

"Nope, I'm a bit old fashioned in that body. You poor defenseless females need to be protected at all cost." Ten smiled cheekily and rocked on the heels of his feet.

"You've got to be kidding!" Donna would have never thought that about him in any of him forms.

"Nope!" Ten's smile grew wider at Donna's disbelief.

"And what is wrong at want to keeping a lady such as you safe, hmm? Some things are better left for men to handle." One broke into their conversation.

"You've got to be kidding?" Donna repeated herself this time with a bit of anger in her voice.

"Did I forget to mention that I'm rude in that form too, well grumpy would be a better term to use, and when I say grumpy I mean, well mean. I mean, mean. Mean mean…ow," Ten yelped.

"I barely touched your arm," Donna defended herself; she had just gently swatted his arm to get him back on track.

"Not you, him! He hit me on the shin again. Why do you keep doing that?" Ten yelped while rubbing his leg.

"It's a wonder you get anything done, my boy, the way your mind is so easily distracted. Are we becoming senile in our old age? Never mind, to answer your question I'm not particularly fond of this me. I have a feeling that most of me are going to feel similarly. I do not take kindly to those who hurt Rose, and you, I dare say, have hurt her the most," One said while waving his cane threateningly.

"Blimey, this day's going to be terrible," Ten said to the world at large, "Wait, how do you even recognize her? And how many of you are going to?" Ten said rubbing his hands through his hair in exasperation.

"Does it matter, hmm? At some point in today's events all of us are meeting her to give her a rose. And considering that she is not with you but you are in a mostly stable state of mind I'm going to assume that right now she is avoiding you." At Ten's gob smacked expression One figured he had determined correctly.

"Good, that makes things easier. She needs to stay in the TARDIS. She _is_ on the TARDIS," At Donna's nod he continued, "It's the safest place for her bearing in mind that whatever is doing this is more than likely after her." One concluded.

"_What_? How did you even come to that conclusion?" Ten asked completely serious for the first time in the conversation. His tone was dark and menacing, something Nine would have been begrudgingly proud of. If something was after Rose it would be dealt with, swiftly and possibly terminally. The pain of losing her was still too recent and even though she was back he hadn't truly felt her presence. His nerves were rubbed raw from the lack of her. Maybe he wasn't a stable as One assumed.

"What was that, what was that? That tone! Boy, look me in the eye and tell me that you are in full control of your faculties because if you are not you should leave at once," One's voice was deadly serious.

Ten understood what One was talking about. This regeneration had never truly stabilized because he had never taken the time to reabsorb the energy from his severed hand. It wasn't good to have bits of yourself wandering around. And now Donna was mixed up in that energy. It was a mess that he had been putting off untangling since the Christmas that it had happened on. Unfortunately, this kept him unstable, more irrational.

When Rose had been with him she had stabilized him. This body had been built for her and that included how he processed thoughts and feelings. He was built for her and so if Rose was there he would always be alright. She had kept the shape of him intact like water in a glass. He had needed her like he had never needed anyone before, and he had never felt so human in his very long life. When she was gone little bits of him spilled everywhere.

He thanked everything he believed in, which was just Rose really, for Donna slapping some sense into him the first time they had met. He didn't like to think about what could have happened if she hadn't been there. Donna had held him together, Martha had helped a little, but Donna had forced him into shape.

All the same, an unstable Time Lord at the best of time was bad, but in a situation like this it could be disastrous. Good thing he had someone with him that would step up and stop him if he got too out of control. Donna wouldn't hesitate to slap him into his next life if she though he was dangerous in any way to the space time continuum. Insanity didn't appeal to him anyway, well besides his everyday brand variety that he ran into.

"No, I'm alright," he ignored Donna's snort of disbelief, "as long as madam here is with me I'll be fine."

"Yes, yes I see, odd that. I've never had a sister before. And, my dear, you should really learn not to directly broadcast your thoughts, hmhm." Donna flushed in embarrassment; she had been doing so well too. Six had probably put her off enough to loose concentration.

"Sorry," she muttered.

"Suddenly so shy, my dear, especially since your thoughts are so brash. I'm sure you keep him in line just fine hmhm." One chuckled to himself in amusement and Donna couldn't help but feel strongly endeared to the old man.

"Yeah, well it doesn't take much to put this one in his place. Just a firm smack now and then," Donna said while gently prodding Ten with her elbow.

"Delightful, delightful," he said enthusiastically as he patted Donna on the hand.

"You do realize that you are encouraging her to abuse you?" Ten said with cynicism heavy in his tone.

Before One could say anything a gentle voice interrupted them.

"Grandfather, Ian and Barbra have decided that they want to search over by the … oh, I'm sorry I didn't mean to interrupt." The sweet pixie of a girl said as she came closer. Donna felt a vague sense of familiarity but couldn't for the life of her think of why. Maybe it was left over awareness from having the Doctor's memories, thoughts, or whatever in her head.

"Grandfather? Does Rose know about this?" Donna said with a raised eyebrow.

"Well…," Ten trailed off as he tugged on his ear.

"You've found Grandmother again, that's wonderful!" Her honest enthusiasm echoed like ringing bells.

Ten spun so quickly that Donna could feel the air move from the tail of his coat, not to mention that the bottom of it also smacked into her shins.

"What?" His voice was breathy and definitely squeaky, yep Time Lord panic attack, thought Donna. She didn't care if they all heard her thoughts this time. He looked a bit pale and certainly confused with a great big helping of manic excitement that Donna had never really seen from him before.

"Child, you know better than this," One scolded severely. "We just covered this a week ago. You must think when in situations like this," he added.

"I'm sorry, Grandfather, but I thought that since he had found her that s-," the young woman tried to explain.

"Not another word, Susan," One snapped at her.

"Ow! Donna, what was that for?" Ten shouted as he rubbed his shin _again._

"Don't talk to your grandkid like that! She didn't realize, she's sorry! What is she around fifteen? How is she supposed to understand all this time stuff?" Donna's anger was clear to everyone in hearing distance.

"Yes, I get that, fine. Why did you hit _me_? I didn't say anything and you hit me! With his cane!" He was whining and even he knew it.

"Well, I wasn't going to hit him, he's old," Donna said completely serious. Her expression was one that he was used to and meant that he was somehow being a 'daft alien' again.

"I'm older than him, by oh, quite a bit. Shouldn't you be doing that to him instead of me? Look at me he's practically brimming with youth!"

They both looked over at One who had reclaimed his cane and was standing with it in front of him. Both of his hands were resting on the top of it and he was staring at them imperiously waiting for them to finish.

"See, not old at all!" Donna scoffed at him. "Besides, she's around one hundred and fifty-eight, she _should_ know better by now, particularly when all of me is running around. She could do irreparable damage to the time lines if she tells me something that I'm not supposed to know, especially since there are no other-," he cut himself off quickly and just as abruptly continued. "And you," he said to himself, "you shouldn't talk to her in that tone of voice. She's our gr-"

"Yes, my granddaughter. And I think that I remember how to raise children much more clearly than you." One said angrily.

Ten really didn't have a response for that and stood there running his hand through his hair at a loss of what to say. Then he apparently decided to ignore himself because he turned to Susan and enveloped her in the hug he had been dying to give her since she came over. He even picked her up and spun her making her giggle. He put her down and then ruffled her hair a bit.

"I'm sorry I forgot how mean I could be in this form, but he is right you should know better. All the same what's life without mistakes?" He really couldn't point fingers; he had made loads of mistakes in his long life.

"Excuse me, Doctor, but we should probably be going," a man's voice cut into the conversation.

"Mr. Chesterfield, a pleasure to meet you. The Doctor here was just telling me all about you and Mrs. Wright and how you've just so wonderful with helping him take care of Susan." Ten said while shaking Ian's hand furiously．

"Er… it's actually Chesterton, and you would be?" Ian tried to extract his hand and failed. Donna snorted then coughed to cover up her laughter.

The tenth Doctor pretended to be shocked and froze still holding Ian's hand. He pulled off the over eager random stranger perfectly. His perfect expression of mortification caused Donna to turn away least she give him away with her laughter.

"Oh I'm sorry, so sorry. I must have heard wrong or maybe the Doctor's going a bit senile," Ten said the last part in a faux whisper and an obvious wink.

"Right, well, we must be going," Ian said cautiously and he finally reclaimed his hand. "Doctor, Barbra and I will be waiting over there when you're done talking to Mr.…"

"Smith," Ten filled in.

"When you're done talking with Mr. Smith," Ian said. He then gestured to Susan and she followed him away. Ian paused after a few steps and turned around. "I'm sorry, Mr. Smith do I know you?"

"Not as well as you will and it's Doctor by the way." Ten replied cheerfully, completely enjoying confusing one of his first companions.

Ian blinked and stared at him oddly for a moment then said in nervous amusement and confusion, "I'm sorry, what did you say?"

"It's Dr. Smith, not Mr. Smith," Ten said while trying to keep a cheeky grin off his face. By the way that Susan was giggling and how Donna found the pavement fascinating to avoid looking at everyone, the Doctor figured that he was failing miserably and didn't care. One was giving Ten an exasperated look as if he realized that the older that he got the more ridiculous he became. He couldn't fool himself though Ten see the sparkle in One's clear blue eyes.

"For a moment… never mind. Sorry Dr. Smith," Ian said in bewilderment.

"Don't worry about it. Even if you could remember this day later you still wouldn't understand" Ten said.

"Oi! Rude space-man, very rude," Donna swatted him on the arm.

The Doctor shrugged and said, "He's used to worse."

Susan's giggles were uncontrollable now even if she was starting to look a bit nervous. One cut in before Ian could reply.

"Come along Chesterton it is time we moved on," One said while herding both his granddaughter and her teacher in front of him. "Donna it was a pleasure to meet you and I look forward to meeting you again in the distant future. As for you, young man, you better start treating her better." One gave one last haughty sniff in Ten's general direction and a wave to Donna then steered his companions in the direction of the woman waiting for them, all the while ignoring Ian's questions.

"Right," Donna started, "anymore of that way?"

"What way?" Ten gave Donna a curious look.

"Oh you know, cranky but somehow still likeable, though Six was pushing it." Donna explained herself.

"Er…Nine, I guess, but Rose would probably disagree with me. She was rather fond of that form. But the rest of me, no not really. _Well_, that doesn't include my future selves that I haven't met or Three if you're the Brigadier." The Doctor was now starting to focus on his little gizmo that did whatever. Donna didn't care to ask again; one babble that made no sense and lasted forever was Donna's limit per gizmo.

"Do I look like a Brigadier?" Donna griped at him, which caused him to raise his eyebrow in faint amusement.

"No, you look like a General. Wilf even told me so," he said through a cheeky grin. He continued before she could say anything through her rising indignation. "Come on; let's go back to the TARDIS. She can help make sense of the readings that this has come up with. Allonsy!"

With that he grabbed her hand and dragged her towards his ship. He didn't want to run into another one of himself, at least until he figured out what these readings meant. Along the way he managed to find the perfect rose for his perfect Rose.

Author's Note: Did you know that when you type in allonsy one of the options in spell check in Alonso but only if it's capitalized. It made me giggle. So easily entertained (sigh).

Sorry for the lateness, I couldn't figure out how to get One to leave. He's very persistent and goes to great lengths to get what he wants. I blame him, he didn't want to leave so you have to get Ian or Barbra involved to get him to change his mind.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: How awesome am I to give you two chapters at once. That's it, that's it I feel your love, thank you.

Disclaimer: Don't own, really really want to but I don't

The TARDIS was empty when Donna and the Doctor reached it, but the Doctor could tell that someone had been there recently. The area around the console smelled like Rose and faintly of tweed, which meant his future had been in here and what? Had Rose spoken to him? If she had did that mean that she was only mad at this him or did he get yelled at in his place (he was very hopeful).

One good thing was that the TARDIS didn't seem to be angry at him any more just incredibly irritated at him. Maybe she would help him. Ten minutes later he realized his hopes where in vain and that if he wanted to solve this mystery he was going to have to solve it himself.

So, what did he know? Something was looking for Rose, if One was correct and as much as he hated to admit it, he usually was. Alright, why Rose? _Well_, she was steeped in void stuff, even more so than him now. But then it would still target him too so that wasn't it. Was it her uncanny connection to the TARDIS? But, again, if that was true, why now? What made this moment the perfect opportunity?

And why was the rest of him even here? He was breaking the First Law of Time because there was nothing protecting any of him. No enclosed Time Loop, no outside Time Lords protecting the universe from the consequences if this went completely pear shaped. Now that was fitting, there was nothing worse than pears. How apt, humans were amazing sometimes.

So what would make a Time Lord cross his own timeline without protection? What would drag not just one of him but supposedly all of him here? Well, obviously, something so far beyond what one of them was capable of handling, but what could that be? There was really only one other option that the Doctor could think of, and either it hadn't happened yet or it was part of his memories that were locked away from him. He really needed to fix that.

So it was either a space time event that needed more than one Time Lord to handle it or the one person that they were bonded to was under so much distress it was pulling even past regenerations to her to protect her. He honestly hoped it was a complicated space time event. If it wasn't, the one of him that Rose was actually bonded to (because there was no way that it was anyone else but Rose) would not be in his most rational state of mind. And really, was he ever in his right mind to begin with, starting with One.

Oh, he desperately hoped that he actually hadn't bonded to her yet for several reasons. Some of them had nothing to do with the situation at hand, while the most pressing one was that he hoped that it wasn't because she was so weak right now that she had to do whatever she did, disappearing like she had to rest. Unfortunately, he had the distinct impression that he had bonded to his wife and Susan had said that Rose was her grandmother (he had no idea where to begin to describe how he felt about that happy, delighted, terrified they were all there). He had only ever had children with his wife. A Time Lord could only bond with one person in that way.

Blimey, this was looking worse and worse. So, yes, plan for that, hope for the best, and keep Donna close that's what he had to do, easy.

"Donna!" The Doctor called out looking up from the console which he had been staring at while he thought. There was no response. He asked the TARDIS, she highlighted the open doorway in answer.

Great, just great, now he had to go and find a wondering companion. Why did she even leave? He strode off into the crowd in search of his wayward almost sister. If he would have waited another ten minutes not only would Donna had come back he also would have gotten lunch, which while he had been thinking she had told him she was getting. Shrugging Donna waited in the TARDIS eating. She figured that he would come out from where he was hiding when he smelled food.

The Doctor hated and loved cities. Filled with brilliant people and industry that showed how impressive humans and other beings, depending on the native species, could be. The problem was that for the most part, they reeked cities not people _weelll,_ never mind. He couldn't find Donna by sent so he reached out to locate a familiar mind and only found himself in several places and, yes, every one of him was apparently here.

He got varying degrees of interest in response. One and Six broadcasted their annoyance at being interrupted by that specific him again. Two and Three seemed to be distracted by something, probably arguing with himself, also again. Four and Eight seemed delightedly interested with him, which meant that he would likely see them soon. Eleven ignored him because he was not only dealing with the situation at hand but also, apparently, new memories. Five gave a mental nod in recognition but that was it. Seven's sharp and somewhat cold mind only gave him passing acknowledgement. Twelve and Thirteen were close together and seemed to look on at him with amusement. Nine was the closest and at his gentle nudge started to move away from him. The Doctor didn't realize how close he was to himself or that Nine wasn't alone. Really he stopped paying attention to himself all together when he caught sight of Rose.

She was beautiful. Well she was always beautiful but that was beside the point. Rose was walking down the street towards him laughing at something someone said to her. The Doctor didn't even notice who she was with, just that she was there and happy. He was also ridiculously glad that he had already picked up the rose that he wanted to give her that way he didn't have to leave and find her again. It matched her perfectly, though he did wonder if giving her roses was wise. She had once complained that giving her a rose felt redundant and cliché, but maybe that was the point.

It was at that moment that the Doctor finally realized that he could have very well lost his Rose to his own stupidity. Why had it taken him so long to realize that it didn't matter if she was human or whatever else she might be turning into, or not, if the case may be? Just as long as she stayed _Rose_ she could turn into an Eternal for all he cared. _Weelll_, that would take some time to adjust to, but he would still do it! If it was for Rose he would get used to anything, even _domestics_. Even if he had to watch her age he'd still be there. If she was strong enough to handle that then so was he.

All his worry, confusion, and hope (there was a lot of that), not to mention the love he felt for her, built up and hit him like he just ran into a brick wall. It was probably why he did the next thing that he did that and a part of him felt oddly excitable today. It didn't help that this particular incarnation was known for its rash actions.

The Doctor casually strolled forward till they were passing each other. With an easy movement that was born out of habit he grasped Rose's hand, and he then spun her around using a movement reminiscent of dancing and tugged her close to him. The Doctor then proceeded to snog the breath out of her. It was quite enjoyable.

While doing so the Doctor carefully maneuvered them so that he was leaning up against a wall and Rose was the one holding him there. It wasn't the most comfortable position but it left Rose ample opportunity to pull away from the kiss if she wanted to. Not that he was making that easy for her to want to do and she had always teased him about his oral fixation.

They were both so caught up in the kiss that they completely missed the whistled cat-call, but the Doctor easily picked up the growl that was on the very edge of his range of hearing. It was so deep that while Rose couldn't hear it herself her body instinctively reacted to it. Every hair on her body was standing on end (he'd wonder about that particular reaction later because she didn't smell afraid). The Doctor quickly spun the pair of them to put him between whatever threat was there and her. At the same time he started to rub her arms in subconscious gesture of comfort. The noise was getting louder the longer he touched her, and oddly familiar.

When he assessed that she was fine, Rose was still a bit wobbly from the kiss and sudden change of position, the Doctor spun to face what was threatening them and making the exact same noise back at it. This brought the Doctor face to face with big ears, blue eyes, and a leather jacket that was worn like armor. Seeing his previous self he couldn't have controlled his reaction even if he tried, he smiled. It was large, cheeky, and unbelievably smug.

"Don't mind me," Ten's voice was annoyingly chipper. He quickly spun to face Rose again and reached into his pocket. He pulled out a pink and yellow rose and handed it to her. _Well,_ the tips were more red than pink but they were close enough.

"Hello," he belatedly greeted. The Doctor disregarded Nine's 'Oi' for completely ignoring him and Jack who had whistled.

"Hello," Rose swiftly and softly answered back. Hearing their traditional greeting towards each other caused him to give her one of his biggest smiles.

Rose considered him shyly and with a bit of suspicion, not that he could blame her. A random bloke kisses her without prompt or reason, Rose had every right to be suspicious. She was still trying to recover from the kiss and was trying to straighten herself out and gather her wits. Her hair was a mess, her breathing was still a bit ragged, her eyes were dilated, and she was giving off the most wonderful smell. He preened of what a good job he had done.

The Doctor abruptly pulled back mentally and went through the last seven minutes and twenty three seconds. His hormone levels hadn't been this out of control in ages, well since the last time he had spent any substantial amount of time with her. Really, this body was terrible when it came to Rose Tyler. It did all sorts of strange things when faced with her _Roseness_, things that he had never actually remembered going through or at the very least this strongly during the embarrassing century of puberty. He had never reacted this strongly chemically to anyone.

"Well, what's this for then?" Rose's question cut through his thoughts. "I mean you're not the first bloke to give me a rose today, hell you're not even the fifth."

"Really, who else, because you're supposed to get thirteen?" Ten was curious as to which hims Nine had already run into today. He didn't even want to remember the versions of him that he had run into himself.

"So you're all in on it together or something?" She questioned.

"Or something. Trust me we're only doing it because you ought to have them. Just describe to me who the other's were and I'll label them," he sort of explained as he reached into his jacket pocket all the way to his elbow, this time for a package of tags that he had bought that where completely white. There was one already on the one he had just given her.

One side of the tag gave the meaning of the rose he had given her. The other side simply said _Ten_.

"The one in tweed stopped by first. He said he was Eleven," Nine cut in. Ten took in the tone of tightly controlled rage and felt partly guilty but mostly vindictive, well no a bit vindictive and mostly smug. One of his most irrational fears was that if given the choice Rose would always pick Nine.

"What are you talking about he never said a thing to me?" Rose's confusion was heading towards annoyance.

Nine just tapped one of his temples and said, "Slightly psychic, me."

"Eleven, what does that mean?" Jack was ignored by both Doctors.

"Jack has a point. What does the number eleven have to do with anything?" Rose was now completely in control of herself and a bit irritated. She was confused about what was going on today. The Doctor wasn't explaining anything _again_, and random men with seemingly no connection kept giving her roses. Each one of them had been odd.

"Alright, pretty boy, in order," the Doctor said as he passed the pinstriped man roses from his pocket and ignored the other Doctor's sputtering and Rose's question. "Eleven, Three and Two, or if you like, Two and Three. As much as we can't stand each other we do seem to stick together. Then Four and finally One, here you go, nice and neat." Rose noticed he was speaking with false cheer. He really didn't like this other man Rose noted.

"We? What does that mean, Doctor?" Jack questioned.

"One gave her this one," Ten said holding up a particular rose continuing to ignore Jack. "But that's cheating! It isn't even from earth, means the same, but come on. How's a bloke supposed to compete with that?"

"Yep and he even recognized her, so did Two. Mind, I think Four did too, but not for the same reasons. You know how it was; he's not going to say anything useful until he's good and ready."

"Blimey, she has a lot of stories to tell me," he glanced at Rose, "Unless you already met some of them?" At her blank look he continued, "No, didn't think so. Good thing none of you remember this day, any go around, because I think that the Captain has figured it out. No, I will not say hello to you the same way. _Weellll_, maybe if you buy me dinner and a few drinks wouldn't hurt." The last bit had been directed at Jack.

"You've got to be kidding me. I thought I only had to buy you _a_ drink!" Jack said in fake outrage, he liked being right.

"What?" Rose was confused wasn't that what the Doctor had said around a week ago before Margret the Sliveen.

"Right, off I go. Companion to find, you know how it is, always wondering off. You'll love her, trust me. Well no, not at first but she's the best mate you'll ever find." With that he handed Rose's roses over to Nine, stole one more quick kiss, flashed a wink at the Doctor and Jack, and darted into the crowd. It wasn't what the first kiss had been but it still managed to make Rose's toes curl, which was completely unfair. How did he _do_ that?

Regardless, that was the strangest encounter yet. Well, maybe not, the man in the scarf had been really _weird_. At least this latest man put the meanings on the back of all of her roses. Maybe when this day was over she would actually get the time to read what they said. She wondered if she had to go in order to understand what was going on. And what order would it be numerical or in order of appearance?

The first bloke, in the tweed, had been sweet, really. He had approached her fiddling with his clothes and general appearance as if he was incredibly nervous. He hadn't said a word just shyly handed her a blue rose and had kissed her on the cheek. The move seemed to have surprised him more than her and he had disappeared into the crowd quickly after stuttering incomprehensibly for a few moments.

She had turned at the Doctor's sigh of disgust and oddly enough embarrassment. He carefully took the rose and put it in his pocket while explaining that they had more important things to do than watch her attract pretty boys. That and she would get her rose back when they were done with what they were doing today, no harm done. Ever since then his mood had taken a downwards turn.

Rose mostly attributed it to the two men that had given her roses next. They had come up together, arguing. It had been about her, more accurately about the roses that they were going to give her and that had been really weird. Both of the roses were pink one darker than the other. The shorter of the two men had a very pale pink flower and the taller had a regular pink rose.

Rose had never met either of them before. The shorter of the two recognized her immediately and had smiled at her even before they had reached her. He had been carrying a recorder of all things, which had been another point of contention between the two men.

The other man had only seemed to vaguely recognize her, as if she was a distant memory. He had been rather tall with peppered hair wearing a velvet coat. So tall in fact that he towered over her by almost a foot. He was even taller than Jack and the Doctor by a couple of inches. Rose could tell that she had confused him. For some reason she couldn't explain, Rose knew that she was a memory that he just couldn't quite recall.

"My dear, we have been instructed to give you these roses and seeing you with my own eyes only confirms that you deserve every one you receive today," the tall gentlemen said.

"As if you understand at all how important she is," scoffed the shorter of the two. "Now my dear take this, and you look lovely by the way. Pay no attention to him; he has no idea what he's doing."

"No idea what I'm doing, really you get more ridiculous every time I see you! Why is it that every time something like this happens I run into you, yo-" the taller man was building up some momentum.

"Oi! I'm not going to deal with your arguing!" The Doctor cut into their latest quarrel. "We have a situation on our hands that is completely unrelated to my companion."

"Do you have any idea as to what is going on here? No, I didn't think so. Let me explain so you can understand. The situation is far graver than you probably realize. These time anoma-" the man with the recorder started off with a patronizing tone.

"Right, not in front of the children," the Doctor cut the man off. Rose could tell his temper was getting close to his limit. The three then wondered a bit away and had gotten into a rather large argument with no real resolution as far as Rose or Jack could tell or understand.

When they were done the Doctor headed back over to them. The other two men left as they came, arguing with each other. On his return the Doctor proceeded to explain the updated situation of the portal things that kept popping up in Chiswick of all places. And off they went to save the universe again.

An hour later they were interrupted by a low voice that took all of them by surprise, even the Doctor.

"Care for a jelly baby?" The man was all teeth, curls, and ridiculously long scarf. And considering his height it had to be extremely long to drag on the ground like it did. How did he not trip over that thing and why did it look so familiar?

"Here take an orange one to match the flower I'm giving you," the man in the scarf continued. His elegant fingers picked out the correct color and handed her both the rose and the candy at the same time.

"You're the fourth bloke to give me a rose today, why?" Rose had to ask because the Doctor wasn't exactly explaining and she knew he knew.

"Naturally, and I'm sure I'll get around to it sometime today! It was a pleasure meeting you again, precious girl. That doesn't quite seem to work, hmm. I suppose it doesn't matter because the next time you see me I'll probably be an entirely different man. Good luck," he lifted his hat in a polite gesture and disappeared into the crowd.

"Why are you getting all the attention, he was good enough to climb," Jack complained.

"_Captain_," the Doctor said in exasperation.

"What? You jealous too?" Jack shot right back.

"Hardly," said the Doctor, his voice dry and his eyes were rolling, "Common let's go."

After that they had returned to the real danger at hand. Along the way they had run into a Scottish boy that had been looking for the man with the recorder. The boy, Jamie, was pointed in the last direction they had seen the man.

It had been another two or three hours before she had been approached again. Rose had lost track of time due to an incident that had caused them to run for their lives and loose each other. When they managed to find one another and after the 'I'm so happy every one's safe' hugs, an old man had forced his way into their small circle.

"Wonderful, wonderful, it's a pleasure to see you again! Here you go, my precious girl. It's hardly enough but I suppose it will have to do for the time being," the old man's tone was sweet and light, full of joy. The spry old man handed her a deep red rose and chuckled in amusement at the odd look on the Doctor's face. He looked confused to the point of being completely flabbergasted and underneath he looked a bit disturbed. Rose didn't understand, it was just an old man, right?

"So you must be Nine, hmm?" He scoffed in derision and held on to the lapels of his black coat, rocking back onto his heels, finally putting his full attention on the Doctor. The old man studied him for a bit longer as if coming to a decision. A disdainful look crept over his wrinkled face; he was clearly unimpressed with the Doctor. The Doctor himself backed away a step eyeing the old man's cane that was hooked on his arm.

"You look like a brute, someone of mean intelligence, meaning average as I'm sure you're confused." The last statement was directed at Jack as if he was too simple to understand what the old man meant.

"Hey!" Jack exclaimed in wounded pride. He was ignored.

"It's a wonder I even survive," the old man continued, "I suppose you do an adequate job at keeping her safe, so I presume _you _are not the problem. Good luck then, young man. Though you should be far more careful with the things you love most." He admonished the Doctor with a wave of his cane and strode off to a group of people waiting for him.

"Well, he was in a good mood," the Doctor said without sarcasm.

"He was in a good mood? How was that a good mood?" Jack was still fuming at being insulted.

"Trust me that was practically cheerful for him," the Doctor explained.

Only one of the people in the group waved and smiled at them, it was a young woman around the age of fifteen. The other two, a man and a woman both in their thirties, just seemed bewildered.

"That old man would have been shocked to know that your over nine hundred years old," Jack said a bit bemused looking for humor in the situation.

"Probably not for the reason you think," the Doctor replied distractedly. He had a mournful look on his face and any question that Rose had wanted to ask was pushed in the back of her mind. At that moment he had needed a distraction. His mood was worsening but not towards anger.

Rose had then suggested food and off they went. Around ten minutes later Rose had found herself being snogged, thoroughly and enjoyably, by the pinstriped man. It had not improved the Doctor's mood _at all_.

Rose wondered who was going to give her a rose next and how to make Jack tell her what he had figured out.

A/N: Look at me getting so much accomplished all in one go. W00T! Yes I'm a geek/nerd/dork and damn proud of it!

Explanations for the flowers.

Dark Red: Deep passion, Readiness for a commitment, Unconscious beauty, Undying love

Pink (light, regular): Light- Gentleness, Joy & Grace, Admiration, Sympathy & Gentleness, Harmony & Warmth. Regular- Elegance, Admiration for beauty and refinement, Sweetness. Appreciation & Recognition

Orange: Fascination, Passion & Desire, Enthusiasm & Energy, Pride, "I am so proud of you"

Yellow with Red/Pink tips: friendship, falling in love.

Blue: Mystery & Ambiguity, The impossible or The unattainable, "You are extraordinarily wonderful", Mysterious beginnings of new things


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: Don't own, really really want to but I don't.

AN: Hello everyone it's nice to see (sort of) you all again. And on with the chapter because who really wants to read this when there is other things to read that are much more entertaining.

When Donna finished with her lunch and had a cuppa besides she went to the console room to figure out what the hell was taking the Doctor so long. He was never this quiet and the smell from his food should have had him wander in a good fifteen minutes ago. But now that Donna was in the console room she figured that she might as well wait here for him.

It was another good twenty minutes before Donna noticed a pale gold mist that seemed to be leaking from under the console. It led out of the TARDIS from under the door and as Donna threw open the door she could see where it led. There was a clear trail that no one seemed to see, except her.

Donna stomped back in determined to find the Doctor and was met by a blue projection of Rose Tyler. The hologram was leaning on the console with her arms wrapped around herself.

"Still to mad at him to talk to his twiggy-ness, then," Donna said with faint amusement. The only response she got was the small smile. Donna then noticed that the image was trembling and looked weak and tired. She also wavered between being real and a blue hologram. The longer Donna watched the more solid she became.

"I used up a lot of energy to talk to him earlier and now the one I need isn't here. Donna, can you tell him that he needs to find and keep me in the TARDIS. Not this me the younger me that's walking around with Nine. By the time I managed to get enough energy to build another body he had left looking for you, so I couldn't warn him. And tell him that whatever is here it's draining the power supply."

As Donna watched Rose seemed to gather her strength and became completely corporeal. The effort made her sag against the console. Donna hesitated on leaving; she wasn't going to leave Rose in the state she was in by herself until Donna was sure she was going to be fine.

She helped Rose to the jump seat and then got the Doctor's lunch from the kitchen and set it by Rose. This earned her a smile and a soft thank you. When Rose was half way done Donna determined that she could do no more and set out to find the Doctor. At this point she didn't care which one it was.

About ten minutes later the TARDIS doors swung open in a hurry as someone rushed in.

"I came as soon as I heard. I thought I might have a bit more trouble with the door but it didn't seem to be locked," the man said.

"It doesn't matter. Help me up I need to get outside." Rose dismissed his concern about the door.

"You should stay in here, its safe." It was a gentle reprimand but a reprimand none the less.

"Maybe for a different me but right now, if I don't leave, I may end up accidentally killing myself. Whatever is going on outside is my fault. I accidentally brought something in here with me from the void and if I stay in here any longer it's going to consume all of me."

"Good thing I showed up then."

"I knew you would, I'm glad to see you." All the while he was helping her up, trying to get her on her feet. She was a bit unstable and too tired to keep her head up. This gave her a lovely view of the grating and both of their shoes.

"Doctor?" She sleepily questioned.

"Yes, dearest one?" His reply only earned him a snicker. Rose would never have pegged the Doctor for pet names but she had met all of him and each had been so different. She had had a nice time with this him when she had seen him last.

"I like the shoes, their perfect for you."

"Really, I thought so too." With that the Doctor lifted her off her feet and swept out the door. They shut and locked behind him without prompting. Eight then set off to where he knew he would be waiting. He would keep her safe.

The Doctor spent a good half an hour wondering around Cheswick looking for Donna with no luck. He had tried all sorts of scans and had come up with two conclusions. The first being that he came up with was that whatever was causing all of this had taken her through one of those anomalies. The second was that she was safely back at the TARDIS and was being shielded by his ship as well. The Doctor assumed the former because he was never that lucky even on his best days.

Another thing he had noticed was the anomalies were materializing less and less to the point where he had not seen one in quite some time. Either whatever it was, was giving up which was unlikely, or had narrowed down its search grid to a very specific area. It or they were in an area that he was not in, well not _this_ him anyway.

The Doctor was passing an open air bistro when he heard two men talking.

"Look at him go! I can't remember the last time I had that much energy," a man who looked like he was thirty said. He had brown wavy hair and deep brown eyes so dark they looked black in certain lighting. His skin was tan as if he was from the Mediterranean area.

"I do, it was yesterday when you were running for your life," the man next to him said. He was pale with a smattering of freckles along the apples of his cheeks and over the bridge of his nose. His hair was a shade of ginger that was in between what Donna had and that future companion Amy had. The Doctor could feel his jealousy rising, he really had always wanted to be ginger.

"Good thing we don't have to do the running about bit this time," the darker one said then sighed as he leaned back in his chair. He pulled his plate of food closer so he didn't have to reach far.

He was wearing a button up white shirt with the top two buttons undone that showed he had an undershirt on. The sleeves were rolled up to the elbow and the bottom was hanging loose from his khaki trousers. On his feet were sandals, the type that strapped on, of all things. His overall image made you think that he belonged on some beach somewhere.

"I know. It's nice watching the rest of you scurry around to solve everything and we can just sit here and enjoy the day." The ginger one spoke with relish. His oddly colored eyes, they were turquoise, sparkled. He was slumped over a cup of something steaming; the Doctor was too far away to determine what it was.

The man was wearing a black hoodie that zipped up the front and blue jeans. The shirt under the hoodie matched his eyes perfectly. The final touch was his shoes, they were _his_ black trainers. Those were his shoes! Why was _he_ wearing them? He didn't go around wearing Nine's jumper or Seven's hat.

"Oh, look he's noticed us," the ginger one continued.

"He noticed the shoes." The comment was said in casual off handed manor.

"'Bout time too. How long have we been watching him run back and forth for?" The red-head continued to speak as if the man sitting across from him had said nothing.

"I'm thinking fifteen minutes and thirty eight seconds-ish if you will."

"That sounds about right."

"Four would have noticed right away," noted the darker one.

"Four did notice us right away, remember he came over."

"Not yet, you know I had forgotten how strange we were when we were him. Pass the salt please." They spoke to each other as if there wasn't something terribly dangerous happening all around them and that they could help to solve it.

"I know, and I wonder when we're going to stop eavesdropping and come over to talk to us properly. No? Alright then suit yourself." He passed the requested item over.

"Why do you like antagonizing that us?"

"Because he's a great big alien space dunce," he sounded just like Donna. "Yes, I do, I also match her this go around. Want to join the conversation, or are you going to stand there like a plum a bit longer?"

"If memory serves, he's going to stand there baffled for a while yet. And you're wrong he's not an idiot, he's emotionally repressed like every one of us was trained to be."

"And that makes him stupid. Hand over the vinegar when you're done."

"No more than you or me." The bottle was handed over.

"Have you made mistakes like his? No, you haven't and do you want to know why?"

"You're forgetting that he has the added problem that is only particular to his regeneration."

"That's right, he's an unstable idiot. He wouldn't be an idiot at all if he would have handled the whole severed hand debacle from the start. I can't believe he left his hand for anyone to find."

"I wasn't talking about that bit. Besides, you know everything turned out alright, Jack found it. It could have been worse."

"How? Jack had a piece of us to do who knows what with for two years."

"STOP!" Ten shuddered as he held up both hands as if to ward off the images that sentence had conjured up.

"Ah, he speaks," the ginger Doctor said mockingly.

"I'm actually surprised it took this long I though this one never shut up if he was given the opportunity."

"Look, I'm having a bad day and it seems to only be getting worse. Now if you'll excuse me I need to find Donna and help fix whatever is happening, which is more than I can say you two are doing." Ten didn't bother to hide his irritation.

"That's funny he's trying to guilt us into helping!" The Ginger one gave him an amused smile.

"So if you're not here to help," Ten asked, "why are you here?"

"Entertainment!"

"Moral support." Both comments were said simultaneously.

"Oh, right, that too." The ginger Doctor tried to pull off sheepish but just didn't quite manage it.

"Sit down and have a bite. By now Rose has already eaten your lunch that Donna went and got you. That means you have about fifteen more minutes until you need to meet up with Four. I'm Twelve by the way and that leaves him to be Thirteen." The Twelfth Doctor pushed out a chair for him.

Ten gingerly sat down. He was still worried and confused about Donna and the day in general, but they had mentioned that Rose was up and about enough to eat. So he would put up with himself a bit longer to find out more. He pulled over a basket of chips that were sitting closest to him and started to eat. He ideally wondered why there were four baskets when the ginger Doctor spoke.

"Don't fall for the kind attitude it's all an act. I was him not too long ago and I remember not liking this you that much." Thirteen said with fake pleasantry.

"Yes, I've heard not many of me likes me. Can't imagine why, I'm a perfectly likeable bloke. A bit on the rude side but who isn't every now and then." Said Ten cheekily.

"You've already been told why," Twelve said.

"It can't just be because of that. Plus, if any of me would have been in my shoes you probably have done the same thing. _We_ have no idea how to be in a romantic relationship. I'm starting to think it's something else altogether," Ten countered.

"Listen, _mate,_ we would have never made some of the mistakes you've made, and you're gonna' have hell to pay for some of them. The most recent being the worst but not the most damaging, it was just the last straw so to speak." As Thirteen berated Ten he also waved a finger in his face. It was uncanny how much like Donna this him was.

They sat in silence for a minute judging each other and taking in what was displayed on the other men's faces. Ten seemed to come to some conclusion because a smile slowly spread across his face which caused Thirteen to roll his eyes and Twelve to sigh into his cup of tea.

"OH! I'm right, I like it when I'm right, and well I'm always right. But this is brilliant! None of you like me because you think I'm her favorite! That's brilliant, just brilliant," Ten hummed in pleasure for a few minutes while the other Doctors stared on in a mixture of amusement and exasperation.

"I don't remember being this insufferable when I was him." Twelve grumbled.

"How's the irrational jealousy of Nine treating you, skinny?" Thirteen shot back.

"Oh, that's just, that's just low. But I suppose under the circumstances called for, all the same, low. What I don't understand is why? No, don't tell me. I want to know but I can't, so don't tell me."

"We're not really worried about you being the favorite considering all the strikes you have against you," Twelve said

"What?"

"Come now, you have a list of things that you will need to work on to no longer be in Rose's ill graces," Twelve said companionably as if he hadn't just popped Ten's little bubble of self delusional happiness.

"What?"

"Stop being daft," added Thirteen, "besides the rampant display of stupidity on the beach a few days ago there was the mess you made during the whole Sarah Jane episode, granted it's what you didn't say that really got you in trouble there. Then right after that was the Reinette incident that we know you feel guilty over but not for the right reasons. Never did bother to think about how that mess looked to Rose, did you?" He paused to glare at his younger self in distain. "Moving on to what you did after the black hole disaster. So afraid that she hadn't made it and you reach out to hold on her _with everything_ and never say what you had done."

"We shouldn't actually blame him for that. That half formed bond is what kept her going at first, remember?" Twelve interjected.

"Fine, _whatever_. All the same that wouldn't have been so bad if you hadn't bloody screwed up on the beach the first go round. She makes a verbal claim from across the bleeding void and alls you can say is _quite right too_! And then this last time on that beach," Thirteen continued.

"I thought you weren't going to mention it," Twelve cut in.

"Change m' mind. Do you know because of you that she ends up hating beaches for ages? Try taking her to some romantic sunset on a beach some time and see how that goes for you. And then you end up springing Utah on her," he was starting to get louder and people were starting to stair.

Twelve's voice cut threw his rant like a chilling breeze, it cut right to the bone. "Stop, he hasn't done that yet and it was unavoidable."

This time the silence that came over them was tense as Ten took in all of the information that had just been shoved into his face. He came to an interesting conclusion. "You're helping me. _Why_ are you helping me?" Ten was now very suspicious.

"We're helping ourselves, there's a difference. If we don't help you now Rose would most likely not be with us later. I love my life with her so please keep in mind what we tell you," Twelve counseled. "We want to keep the future as is because-"

"After the spastic angst-yness that you are, we became neurotic," the ginger Doctor cut in.

"That's still you," Twelve casually commented.

"But not to worry it's not your fault," Thirteen continued.

"No, we become very busy in a few years and that runs you ragged," Twelve threw in.

"And Eleven."

"And me!" Twelve added with a warm chuckle, the first genuine warmth that Ten had seen from himself.

"Don't worry it's completely worth it," Thirteen finished.

"Why are you talking like that?" Ten was eyeing the two men warily. It was rather disturbing how well the two of them got on, he couldn't actually remember getting on so well with himself as these two were. They were both giving him deceptively innocent smiles that he knew was hiding something not very good for him.

"It's nothing really, we've just reached an age where the pointless bickering and rivalries have become meaningless," Twelve consoled Ten with a sympathetic smile.

"Don't listen to him he hates himself the most out of all of us. Under that smile is a bitter dark man," Thirteen genuinely cautioned.

Again the thought echoed in Ten's head …_Valeyard._ The Master had once said that it was between his Twelfth and Thirteenth regeneration that possibility lay but he wasn't sure if he should trust the Master's word until now. Twelve, despite his comforting and warm smile, had cold eyes that showed a vast struggle to keep the darkness at bay.

"Yes, he's unfortunately right which is why you need to fix things with Rose. If you don't my fate might become yours. I see it in you too. The fear and doubt and anger, it's right there under the surface waiting to take a hold of your mind. The struggle has been as hard for you as it has been for me and it will get worse." Despite the ominous words, what Twelve said was delivered with a cheerful smile and a calm expression.

Ten glanced to Thirteen to see what the oldest version of himself thought about the proclamation that had just been said only to find that the man wasn't even paying attention to them at all. He was looking into the crowd and watching.

Looking in the same direction as himself he saw a rather tall man walking in their direction. He had curly dark hair and wore a tan coat. But the most distinctive feature about the person was his utterly ridiculous long scarf. The man was smiling as he made a direct line towards their table.

Ten slumped in his chair and groaned in annoyance. He was already dealing with two other versions of himself why another? He had known that the universe had hated him for a while now but this was just getting obscene.

"Oh, look and I make four to our little party. Hello, it's lovely to see me so active in my old age. Jelly Baby?" And as always with Four you could never really tell what he meant. Was he being sincere or sarcastic, not even the rest of him could accurately tell. Ten could already feel the urge to bang his head against an unmovable object start to overwhelm him. All the same he reached up and took a Jelly Baby.

"Why don't you take a seat?" Twelve offered graciously.

"No, I don't think that will be necessary. I don't think that I'll be staying long. We are more than likely needed where all the action is." Four said, "I doubt the rest of me have figured everything out yet so they will need my help."

"Yes, in fact that's your queue, time for us to leave." Thirteen was quick to push Four and Ten on their way, he seemed rather distracted.

"Oh is it? Right then when he says us he means you, the both of you." Twelve said a bit confused at his counterpart's urgency.

"I've noticed, shame really. I was rather looking forward to a discussion with my-selves. Come on I think we have both overstayed our welcome." Four reached down and wrapped Ten's remaining chips in a newspaper from his pocket and passed them back when Ten stood.

Confused at the sudden hurry Ten looked around but was distracted by the feel of Four's scarf hitting his shin. It made him jump a bit and somewhat frantically look around for One. As the sudden paranoia faded he noticed the rest of him was staring at him with varying degrees of glee and bewilderment.

"Right then, this way," Ten directed and took off.

He was interrupted by Four's deep voice that was dappled with amusement. "It's this way Doctor."

Ten was so embarrassed that he didn't even strike an argument with his younger self, though he did wonder who the fourth basket of chips were for.

When the younger Doctors had left their sight Thirteen sighed in relief and started on his food again.

"What was that all about?" Twelve questioned. The response he got was an open hand as if he was telling him to stop. When Thirteen started to lower his fingers, Twelve rolled his eyes when he realized that it was a countdown.

When he reached one there was a polite cough by the chair Ten had tucked in as he had left. Seeing who it was Twelve jumped up from his seated position and pulled the chair out where Rose Tyler was carefully set down still asleep.

"I knew she would be safe here with me," Eight said as he gently straightened her position into a more comfortable one. He kissed her very softly on the lips then smiled at his older selves and started to leave.

He was stopped by Thirteen's voice. "There's a flower shop that way about two blocks it should have what you're looking for."

"Thank you," Eight said with a nod and continued on his way.

AN:

Finally done! It was really hard to write because I had to make up two Doctors at the same time. My foundation for them was Statler and Waldorf from the Muppets. I wanted them to heckle all of his younger selves that came along and enjoy the chaos because they hold all the cards and remember how it all ends because of Ten. Eleven is no longer in the picture because he needs to reorder his memories because he is from a collapsing time line.

Then there had to be the individual personalities. Thirteen has the personality of who James would have become if what Donna and James were planning would have worked. Twelve is sort of based off a character from a different genre. The character's name is Hakkai from Saiyuki, but only a little. Okay, maybe more than a little, but hay I was grasping at straws.

Sneak peek at the next chapter.

"She can do some rather fun things with Jelly babies," answered Four.

"And just what is that supposed to mean?"

His reply was a very slow broad smile filled with teeth and secrets.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: So sorry for the wait, but it's my longest chapter yet. So congratulations for sticking with me, here is your reward!

Disclaimer: Do you think that I would still have payments left on my student and car loans if I owned Doctor Who. Glad we resolved that issue then.

They had been walking in companionable silence looking and feeling for either Donna or Nine. Donna was now on the grid so to speak and luckily headed in their direction. That just left finding Nine, who was trying to stay away from himself. Four and he were both lost in their own thoughts when Ten remembered something that Nine had said earlier popped into his head.

"Nine said that you knew Rose," Ten stated. He hoped that Four was inclined to talk with him.

"Really, fascinating, I wonder where he got that idea from." His statement was colored with false confusion and punctuated with a wide smile.

"Why are you even bothering to lie?" Ten was coming to the end of his patients and the two of them had barely even spoken to each other. The day was wearing on him and Ten rubbed his face trying to gather any and every bit of calm he could piece together. It was just reaching two forty-eight and his life was overwhelming him, every old and new bit of it.

"If you really wanted to know you could unlock the memories that I must have blocked to prevent a paradox and to keep our entwining timelines safe." His tone was serious but his fourth incarnation's eyes twinkled with a mischievous light.

"I don't have the time to process them. When this is over it's going to be the first thing I do, but I really don't have the time right at this moment. Just tell me if there is something that might actually help us figure out a solution to this problem that you may have come across in your adventures with her." Ten realized that he was probably using a tone of voice that wasn't conductive to Four giving answers but really he was tied of not knowing what was what with himself.

"Adventures…hmm…that would be the appropriate way to phrase that, yes. No, nothing that I can think of could be applied to this situation," Four said casually.

"What do you mean 'that would be appropriate'? What did you two _do_?" Ten realized that his voice was starting to rise but didn't care. It wasn't as if he was _jealous_.

"She can do some rather fun things with Jelly babies," Four nonchalantly answered, as if that wasn't going to make him even more irritated with himself.

"And just what is that supposed to mean?" He was doing a terrible job of being not jealous, but at least Rose wasn't there to point it out and tease him about it or Donna for that matter.

Four's reply was a very slow broad smile filled with teeth and secrets. He really needed to take the time to sit down and dig out those memories.

Ten grumbled to himself for the next few minutes debating whether it was worth demanding answers or not. One glace at his younger self and he realized that it really wasn't, at least not right now. There were more important things to worry about at the moment.

"Shhh, do you feel that?" Four asked as he stopped suddenly.

"What? No. What are you talking about?"

A sudden feeling of all reality screaming as it was ripped through caused them both to start walking again but at a much faster rate. Somewhere nearby was an anomaly and it was much larger than the one that Ten had encountered in the coffee shop.

"We need to find Donna and figure out what's doing this," Ten said as they paused to get a sense of where that awful feeling was coming from. It hadn't felt like this before.

"First thing first," Four said with excitement.

"No just, just don't," Ten stopped Four even as he turned to the direction of the disturbance.

He felt guilt creep up as he finally got a sense on Donna mentally. She was nearby but what they were heading towards was far more important. With this maybe he would be able to solve this mess and get rid of himself. He would protect Rose from whatever this was and in the process he got to encounter a new species. He didn't get to do that every day.

By the time they reached the area where the anomaly was supposed to be it was gone but the feeling was still there. It was hauntingly uncomfortable as if it was trying to quietly consume everything that you could do or become. It was _wrong._ Not like Jack was wrong, it was more. Time was dying around whatever was making that feeling.

Neither Four nor Ten wanted to get close to whatever it was so they quickly peered out at the creature that was there instead of the anomaly that they had been hunting for safely hiding behind the corner of a building.

"Ah, I see, it's a gestalt," Four said as they both crouched down.

"What?" Ten blinked in confusion.

"A single creature that is made up of several individual life forms," Four explained without looking at himself. He paused then glanced at Ten incredulously, "Are we forgetting things in our old age or are you hard of hearing? **I said that it's a gestalt-**"

"_Shut up_," Ten hissed at Four, "I know what a gestalt is! What I meant was how did you come to that conclusion. I've seen no evidence that points in that direction."

"Then you're not looking at it close enough," Four replied blandly. "You have been living with humans too long. Look, really look and you will understand. This is also why I heard that awful feeling before you."

Ten leaned back out and did what Four suggested and immediately felt ill but understood. It was one of his senses that he had tuned out since the Time War. He rarely used it even before that. The constant viewing of time actively passing was fundamental for his species. It didn't hurt or bother him but after the Time War he just couldn't handle not seeing Gallifrey in there that he just toned it out unless it was really important.

This was different though, looking at that creature hurt. The way time was _decaying_ around it was not only horrifying it also making his stomach churn. He had never seen time die before and hoped to never see it again. Plus, as time was destroyed the creature was consuming the remains, growing stronger.

It was transparent to begin with, well at least to a human. As it grew in strength it flushed out into existence as something uncomfortable to look at by the naked human eye let alone his Time Lord ones. It was like looking into the void, nothingness trying to suck everything in, hell in a misty sort of blob like thing. Alight, so he really couldn't describe it well but he had never seen something like this before.

He now understood Four's pervious observation as he watched it gain enough strength to split into two separate beings; it was like watching amebas divide. Creepy time devouring amebas that felt as if they could consume everything in existence; he really needed to stop them.

The creatures seemed to confer with one another and headed off in different directions as if it didn't quite know where it was. One headed right towards them and both Doctors backed away at the feeling that it produced. The closer it got the worse the feeling was. Soon they wouldn't be able to take it and would have to leave.

It stopped right before reaching them and seemed to hesitate. Slowly it started to take on a more corporeal form until it developed a humanoid shape. The longer they stood watching the more distinct the image became until it looked human, well in this case Time Lord. But it wasn't just mimicry the creature was intelligent enough that it understood the basic design and chose features that it thought pleasing.

Both Doctors shouted in pain when the creature opened its mouth and made a noise that may have been its attempt at speaking. It wasn't because it was particularly loud it was what it actually sounded like that made both of them shudder in pain. Old High Gallifreyan was mathematically perfect and it sounded exquisite. It was in fact the sound the universe made. Whatever noise the creature created had been the exact opposite in nature that it physically hurt for them to hear it.

Suddenly Ten felt a strange pulling sensation in his mind. It wasn't painful but it made him feel as if slime or ooze was leaking into his brain. He wanted to go have a thorough wash. This creature was doing something to him but he had no idea what. Maybe it was still trying to communicate. It was a shame that it felt rather disgusting if that was indeed the case.

Abruptly the thing turned and left as if it had finally figured out that they were not what it was looking for. Ten didn't know whether to feel relieved or not. On one hand, now that its presence was fading he was finally starting to feel better. On the other, he knew it was after Rose and that was one more creature trying to harm her. He was not going to let that happen, even if it made his skin crawl.

That had to be one of the most repulsive things that he had ever felt, and that included the Shergoflax he had run into on the eighth ring of Garlof. Now that had ended very gooey if he remembered accurately. Ace had not been amused when her nitro 9 had just splattered more of the gunk around.

Four interrupted his thoughts, "_Listen_, do you remember the Fendahl in Fetchburrow? Well this is just like that instance but instead of eating life this creature eats Atron energy, or Zygma energy, probably any type of energy that can produce or is a product of the Time Vortex. We're all in serious danger, which is why it's so confused because we're everywhere."

"No. _Yes_! Oh no, no, no, no. It's not just us in danger it's also the TARDIS and any companion that is with us. All of us are steeped in energy that the creature would find tasty."

"Luckily it's not fatal to our human companions," Four interjected trying to calm the panic that he could see rising in Ten.

"How did you manage to come to that conclusion?" It astounded him sometimes what old age did to his observational skills, most of the time he was just annoyed that he missed something. At least this time he was sure it wasn't something like the London Eye.

"You're either getting sloppy due to age or you're terribly distracted by something." Four gave Ten a searching look then continued, "The creature that left, not the one that approached us, latterly passed through three humans before I lost it in the crowd. Those people didn't even seem aware of what happened to them. I don't even think they could see that creature."

Or maybe it was something as obvious as the London Eye. What was wrong with him that he kept doing things like that?

"That leaves all of us, Donna, Susan and Rose and quite possibly Jack. I'm not sure about that though. He's not immortal yet that should protect him. You didn't bring Romana with you by any chance? No, of course not, I would have sensed her by now if you did," Ten rambled moving on mentally to the more important issues.

"Yes, Romana got left behind when I was pulled here. I'm sure by now One has ushered Susan back into the TARDIS. Our sister is heading in this direction so we can warn her then. And I'm sure our Ninth self is making sure Rose is perfectly safe, though you would probably be a better judge of his character than me, having already been him."

"If he doesn't know how dangerous this situation is becoming, then no she's probably still with him. On top of that Rose likes to wander so there's no guarantee that she's even still with him anymore. So the sooner Nine is told the better off Rose will be. At that point in our life as soon as he finds out how dangerous it is he's going to shove Rose into the TARDIS and lock the door so she can't get out. He might do that to Jack as well if he thinks the Captain is a target as well or to get him out from underfoot. Hard to say on that one, hmm, oh we should also have a talk with Seven about Ace," Ten burst out randomly at the end.

"Oh? Is this Ace in danger?" Four leisurely asked as they both headed towards Donna again.

"What? Well, no, _well maybe_, it depends on where she is in her timeline. Either way I think she's human enough to not worry about this particular problem. No, usually when it comes to Ace it's stopping her from blowing holes in things that don't need them. Her and Nine would have gotten along great. She would have really appreciated what we had used to blow up Hendricks," Ten prattled filling the empty air while Four barely paid attention.

They were suddenly assaulted by a concussive sound wave. Oh, well no, not really, just Donna giving them a good hollering. _Well_ no, just this him actually, which was not fair in the slightest.

"I've been looking for you everywhere! And here you are gossiping like two old ladies," Donna said and slapped him upside the head.

"Your companion is rather striking," Four mused.

"Sarah Jane was right, the worse the situation is the worse your jokes get," Ten's voice was bland.

Four was ignoring him now and studying Donna as if she was the most intriguing thing that he had seen today. There was wonder sparkling in his eyes and happiness radiating from his smile.

"Fascinating! Your voice is rather loud," he said to Donna. He then turned to Ten and continued, "Did you realize this is the closest connection that we have ever had with a family member? Finally someone worth talking to! Her mind is so refreshingly complicated but so young, the dichotomy certainly draws you in doesn't it."

"The novelty wears off quickly, trust me," Ten affected a put upon expression and pitch.

"Watch it space man!" Donna reprimanded.

"Oh, come on Donna. I've spent the past several days with your _dulcet tone_ of your thoughts constantly invading my thoughts," Ten said dripping sarcasm. "Even my impressive resilience is wearing thin."

Ten and Donna then proceeded to get into a minor squabble while Four wondered off on thought.

"Dulcet tone, hmm…I've just had a brilliant idea, well another one anyway," Four interrupted them.

"_Really_?" Donna's sarcasm was ignored by Four while Ten sent a frown her way.

"Donna," Ten proclaimed arrogantly, "all my ideas are brilliant!"

"What about that time on Tibous?" Donna reminded him both eyebrows raised to complete her mocking the silly alien look. Ten sputtered for a few minutes trying to forget how that idea had failed.

"Despite what happens to me in my old age-"

"Oi!"

"My ideas are brilliant," Four said with complete calm.

"Right, what is this brilliant idea anyway," Donna asked to stop the Doctors' egos from clashing.

"_Ahh_, these creatures, as far as we know have no weaknesses, correct?" Four paused to see if they were following his train of thought so far. All he received in return was impatient expressions from both of them.

"Yeah, and?" Donna asked trying to move him along.

"We do know that they caused both of us pain by speaking right?" Four focused that question at Ten.

"Now hold on. When were you hurt?" Donna tugged Ten so that he was facing her so she could check for damage. He sighed and then proceeded to get Donna up to date while she continued to mutter about how useless he was without her if the first thing he does was get hurt.

Ten then directed the conversation back to Four's plan. "Yes, they can hurt us. What are you getting at?"

"Wouldn't you say that the opposite could also be true?"

"Oh but that's… that's brilliant!" Ten couldn't believed he missed something like that

"_Naturally,_ we are the smartest people we know," Four said and both the Doctors shared an arrogant smile.

"What are you talking about?" Donna said in exasperation.

"It's so unbelievably simple and more than likely not going to work, but the theory is brilliant. At the very least it could distract them. Now if there was only a way to direct it. That could do some damage!" Ten babbled on, not even registering Donna.

"Wait, are you saying that these things, whatever they are, could potentially be defeated by being talked at? That great give spaceman here a microphone and we'll have Cheswick cleared out in no time. He could talk for the world this go around, it'll make this a breeze," Donna said.

"Oi!" Donna waved off his irritation.

"No, no, no, _listen_ that isn't going to work unless he can hold up a conversation in Old High Gallifreyian. Even with the rest of us helping it wouldn't reach far enough. No what we need is singing," Four said rather impressed with himself.

"You've got to be kidding me? Singing is your great plan? Good luck, mate, because this one," Donna nudged Ten with her elbow, "he can't hold a tune to save his lives-,"

"OI!"

"and I doubt you could either," Donna concluded.

"Ahh, but who said we would be the ones singing?"

"If it isn't you then who else? Because it certainly isn't going to be me," Donna huffed and put her hands on her hips.

"Donna, have you heard the TARIS sing?" Ten asked.

"Of course I have, you dumbo! ...Oh," Donna blushed in embarrassment. She was feeling incredibly stupid.

"Yes, oh," Ten said back but his tone was gentle and not in the least bit patronizing. Alright, maybe a smidgen but Donna didn't seem to notice.

"Even better, there are thirteen of her here to completely canvas the area with a sonic blanket," Four explained.

"That's just wizard, I should have known it was going to be sonic! You never change, even when you do," Donna said staring Ten down. He gave her a heartfelt grin and a cheeky wink.

"_Well_, that is the point of regeneration," Ten said. "Anyway, we should go. One of us still needs to find Nine and tell him to get Rose to safety, but we also need to spread this plan around amongst ourselves. Plus, we need to all be in our TARDISes and set this in motion as quick as possible."

"Then I will wish you both good luck and I'm sure we'll be seeing each other very soon. Oh and you both be careful," Four said strongly to Ten and Donna. "Those things out there are dangerous and I would hate to hear that I regenerated over this and we don't know what would happen to you," He pointed at Donna. "A little caution couldn't hurt, yes? Yes," he nodded and disappeared around the corner heading off to warn himself, his scarf trailing behind.

Donna went to open her mouth when Ten held up his hand to stop her. They both heard a yelp as if someone had run into something or tripped. Ten just rolled his eyes even as his cheeks turned faintly pink in embarrassment. Donna went to say something again and Ten just shook his head and held his left pointer finger to his lips for silence.

Suddenly Four's head appeared from where he disappeared from, "remember be careful." He said as if they were the ones had just gotten hurt and then promptly disappeared again.

"Right, now go ahead," The Doctor said with faint amusement in his voice.

Donna blinked a few times then started to snicker, which set the Doctor off. They stood there giggling for a few minutes out of the sheer absurdity of the situation and blowing of pent up tension. After they had both calmed down Donna spoke.

"I thought you would be embarrassed not laughing."

"Oh no, I am but you're not living if you can't laugh at yourself. Besides that me never took himself seriously so why should I. Come on, allons-y." The Doctor headed off in a random direction he had picked arbitrarily.

"Where are we going?" Donna tugged on his sleeve making him pause.

"Ah, forward." The Doctor said while starting off in a different direction then he had previously chosen. He was trying to get a feel for where Nine was but Donna was distracting him.

"Really? Forward, I would have never guessed?"

"Donna, the sarcasm isn't really necessary."

"Like hell it isn't. What kind of direction is forward?" Donna was trying for annoyed but it came out amused.

"The right one!" The Doctor stopped walking to sputter at her in indignation.

"Fine, led on," Donna couldn't resist smiling let alone the laughter that was still bubbling under the surface.

"Thank you, I will," the Doctor's voice was huffy. There was a moment of silence.

"You have no idea where you're going." She was practically hooting in laughter now.

"Donna! Fingers on lips!" He demonstrated and glared at her until she did so as well. He then shut his eyes and focused again on the mental presence that he could feel in the area. The Doctor suddenly grabbed onto Donna's hand and tugged her in the direction they needed to go in than dropped it, still upset that she was laughing at him.

They walked in comfortable silence after that lost in their own thoughts until something started to make Donna tense. The Doctor started to shoot her side glances every once in a while waiting for Donna to tell him what was wrong. Donna didn't look scared just thoughtful as if she was determined to puzzle whatever it was out for herself. Even still when she spoke the Doctor was not surprised.

"Alright, I've been ignoring this but it's too weird not to say something," Donna groused.

The Doctor glanced at her with his eyebrows raised as if to say _well_?

"Look I don't know if you can see this but there is this trail that we've sort of been following, but I don't know, it feels almost backwards," Donna said contemplatively.

"Donna what are you talking about?" His voice was laced with curiosity and even more worry. The Doctor didn't doubt that Donna was seeing what she was. Because of what she had been turned into Donna could quite possibly see something he couldn't. Her new abilities were still largely unknown; while she might not be more powerful than him she could just have completely different skills. Who knows what her new genetics made her capable of?

"Well I don't know. Why do you think I'm asking you?" Her voice was rising in irritation but under lying it was a bit of fear. Things were happening to her that she couldn't explain and he wasn't being very useful because, well, he had no idea what was happening to her either. It didn't help that he was for the most part excited by the change and would completely forget that she had spent her entire life as a human. Now she was something else and she was still trying to come to terms with that. The Doctor had to keep reminding himself or he could end up hurting her without realizing it.

All that came to mind was something the Brigadier once said. _Oh dear, _women,_ not really my thing._ At the time he had said something witty back but now he was starting to realize that what the man had said about himself also applied to the Doctor. What really bothered him about that was that he couldn't figure out when that had happened, and the longer he thought about it the more he realized that he had never really understood women. It was very disconcerting and something that he didn't want to think about any further. Besides what Donna was seeing could be useful towards what was happening now.

"Just describe what you're seeing and maybe it can help me figure it out. That way it's no longer something to be nervous about and maybe it could be useful to what is happening around us. Wouldn't that be brilliant Donna? Just think, Donna, you could be the key that solves everything because you're new abilities that could quite frankly be anything, so let's hear it!" The Doctor was practically bouncing with excitement over finding out something new that Donna could do. He stopped after glancing at her again. _Right, she scared, why is she scared again?_ Oh, _right the human thing again._ He sighed then said, "Sorry, I-"

Donna cut him off, "No it's alright at least someone is excited about what's happening to me. I get that because of what happened, you get to have something close to a family again, someone that's not going to leave you. And I'm not going to, just so you know, but it's going to take time for me to adjust because I feel like I don't even know my own body anymore and that terrifies me sometimes. But especially when you don't have an explanation for what's happening."

"_Donna_," He didn't know what to say for a moment. He hadn't realized that she had noticed that he had been afraid that she was going to leave. It had worried him a great deal that one day she was going to realize that what happened to her was his fault and that she wouldn't want to stay with the person who ruined her life. He seemed to do that a lot to his companions. Sarah Jane, Peri, Ace, Tegan, Martha, even Jack, and now Donna and Rose were on that list and he couldn't help but wonder if he was ever going to stop hurting the people he cared about.

"God you're daft! Anyway it's not all about not knowing myself either. It's living up to the responsibility that James left with me. I may not be a Time Lord, but I know that I'm the closest to one since Jenny. You're always going on and on about if the Time Lords were still here then certain things wouldn't have to be fixed by you that they would have done it. I want to help you and now I can with a little training. It's just that it's so huge, this responsibility, and it scares me. I mean I'm just a temp from Cheswick and look at me now. Now I know that if I wanted to learn all that technical stuff you spout off I could because I already knew it once. Sometimes it's like its still all there waiting for me to acknowledge it and it will all come back. So yeah, scared and over whelmed but I don't want to change it. I want to own it, you know what I mean?"

She was giving him a shy look as if she was afraid that he wouldn't want her to master what had happened to her. But his beaming smile that showed off his dimples and the soft look in his eyes let her know that he was touched by what she had said.

"Donna Noble, I'm so proud of you. I'm going to hug you now!" The Doctor exclaimed with excitement and happiness.

Donna just rolled her eyes and sighed but accepted the hug and even returned it.

"You're such dope, spaceman, you really are," she said with fondness.

Getting back on track Donna explained what she was seeing, "Alright then, it looks like a trail of glowing gold particles are floating in bunches about 3 inches above the ground, like something is bleeding this stuff. In some places it even looks like their dragging their feet or stumbling. Every once in a while I can see hand prints on walls or any place someone could support themselves on. But like I said before it feels like it hasn't happened yet. It's just weird," Donna said.

"Donna? Can I see what you're talking about?" It would really help him understand what Donna was experiencing if she allowed him to see through her eyes instead guessing what she was talking about. Weelll, not really guess more like logically determine what was there. Plus, when he figured it out he could help her understand herself and her new abilities better.

"Sure, why not, might make this go faster," Donna said and shrugged. They had been in each other's minds so often these past couple days while training her that Donna didn't even really think about not letting him in. They were family and it was comforting to know each other were there.

After making contact with her mind (they no longer needed to physically touch) Donna led the Doctor through what she had been seeing. A golden trail stretched before them but like Donna said it wasn't continuous. It stopped and started as if someone or something had paused to gather strength then started again, making the trail thicker in some places and thinner in others.

It didn't exactly puddle like a blood trail but the resemblance was there. The stride was awkward as if whatever (or more likely who ever) was stumbling under their own weight or would. Because Donna was right, it was fascinating to notice that the trail hadn't been walked yet and the direction they were going in would intersect whoever was making it.

The more difficult part was determining who was making it, so the Doctor went through the list of possibilities keeping the thought to himself. He didn't need Donna to get upset. It wasn't the creatures themselves that left the trail, more likely it was someone they had injured. Luckily, it didn't have his own psychic signature or Donna's for that matter. Unfortunately, it limited who else it could be. The feel of the psychic signature was vaguely familiar so that left out Susan. Even after all these years without his granddaughter in his life he still had the feel of her memorized.

It was also useful that Donna, though unable to recall his memories, still had their impressions in her mind. It was useful with things like this. Unfortunately, while it felt familiar even he couldn't pinpoint why, which left logic.

So, not Susan or Donna or any of him that left Jack or Rose. Jack, as far as the Doctor knew, was human at least in this point in Jack's timeline. He should be left alone; unless there was a different version of Jack more in line with _this_ him's particular time line, but if there was a Jack his psyche didn't match the trail's imprint. Jack's unique fixed pointed timeness scraped at every one of his senses. The back of his eyeballs itched whenever Jack was around and the Doctor didn't feel any of that here.

So that left Rose and the though unsettled him because he knew everything about her so fully and intimately without knowing her biblically that the only vague feeling of familiarity that this trail inspired in him made him uncomfortable. If it was from her it was like he had to admit that either he had never really known her or that she had changed so much from the Rose he knew that she was no longer familiar. _Blimey_, that was a depressing thought.

"Well, let's see where this takes us, shall we?" The Doctor was practically hopping in place.

"What about your ninth form and young Rose?" Donna reminded.

"You know, I'm almost positive that this will lead us right to them. _So_, allons-y!"

A/N: This chapter was a pain to write. I wanted it perfect because Four is my favorite Doctor the majority of the time (it can change on a day to day basis). So I'm sorry about the wait but I hope that I made it up to you all by making it almost twice as long as my normal chapters. I don't know when I will update _this_ story again because I have to write a several part (7-8) dealing with Four in my Random Jump series while he's still in my head. It will, at some point, actually explain what the whole Jelly Baby comment really is about.


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Don't worry the long one's down below!To make up for the wait this one is supper long, a whole 18 pages and considering I think I average around 6 to 7 that's saying something. Unfortunately, I have no idea when the next chapter will be done, sorry.

**MishaRoseTennant**I have a gift for you in my other story that is connected to this one. Because you should always lookout for multidimensional wavelengths of celestial intent! 

Disclaimer: I wouldn't have student loans if I owned Doctor Who.

~.~ o.o 0.0 o.o ~.~

As they followed the trail the presence of Nine became closer until both Donna and the Doctor could overhear what the past version of him was saying.

"Right what do we know so far?" Nine asked his companions.

"That they feed off of time traces," Jack said.

"Not quite but that narrows it down," Nine said while gesturing them to continue.

"That they're from the void," Rose added.

"Narrows it down," the Doctor repeated.

"They're a gestalt that are highly intelligent with the capability to form rips in reality in the form of these random anomalies to hunt their pray, which is in fact Rose or the TARDIS. I don't know. Could be Jack but that's not likely. Well, when I say unlikely I mean doubtful really, really doubtful. _Well,_ if there's a future version of him wandering around it's more than likely actually. I mean, Jack, you would be an all you can eat buffet."

At the three of their expressions: annoyance (The Doctor), amusement (Jack), and confused suspicion (Rose) Ten continued, "Anyway, they take on the basic appearance of any living creature around them except for the fact that they are the color of, well, the void, so nothingness. When you look at them it feels as if you're being sucked in. They have their own language that we do not know but the TARDIS does, and trust me you won't like what they have to say.

"I know they're not after us because I have been in close quarters with one of them and it completely ignored us. Four was with me at the time and that confused it but it left when it realized that we were not what it was after." Ten butted into their group discussion. "And look I found my companion!"

Donna gave him a flat stare, which earned her a, "What?"

For a moment the group of three just stared at the two of them. Nine looked pissed to see him again. Jack smirked and nudged Rose with his elbow. Rose seemed to regard him with mistrust, which was fair enough. The last time he met up with them he had not exactly been a gentleman.

"You forgot to say that it is a parasite that acts in some way like a veil creature. It enters its host by changing its structure to energy. After the host has absorbed it, the creature will then start to consume whatever it wants that it finds appetizing while being protected by whatever body it has made its home," said a beautiful man in a much more sedate manner. He was wearing a green velvet coat with long wavy hair that Rose found gorgeous. He was pale and delicate looking while still masculine. The word that truly described him was aristocratic.

In his hand he held a plain red rosebud just starting to bloom. He smiled at her and asked, "May I take your hand for a moment?"

He was too pretty to refuse, plus she knew who he was. The 'yeah' she gave him in reply left her mouth with giggles accompanying it.

Nine snorted, his mood worsening, Ten adopted an aloof expression and shoved his hands into his pockets, Jack ogled, and Donna just stood there trying to figure out what to do next. There was something she knew she was forgetting.

Eight practically hopped towards Rose and carful took her hand and kissed the back of it like a gentleman out of a romance novel. He then curled her hand around the flower and let her go.

"My dear, you may call me Eight, since it will save on the confusion for everyone else," his eyes were green and held such joy that she was immediately entranced.

A gentle tug on her flower interrupted them and Rose watched Ten fiddle with her new rose as he put on a tag and explanation of what it meant. He then handed it to Nine who put it with the rest of her roses. The two of them then seemed to mutually decide that Eight was no longer there and continued to discuss what was happening.

Rose narrowed her eyes; they were leaving her out of the important stuff.

"Do not worry, dearest, you will catch up with everyone quickly. They are allowing me a moment alone with you because they pity me. It's as if they don't remember what it's like to be me, hmm," Eight paused in contemplation. "I wonder when they will notice that you have figured out our secret. I also wonder why Nine bothered to hide it in the first place, but maybe he didn't want to scare you away. Would you care to dance?"

The question was so random that it took a moment for Rose to actually register it. When she did, the sheer absurdity of it had her agreeing. So she nodded and placed her hand again into his. How was she supposed to resist dancing with the Doctor, even if there was no music? Rose had already realized that she should have figured out who these men were when she had met the pinstriped Doctor. He had also taken her hand and it had fit perfectly into hers just like this one's hand did and every other Doctor's hand she had held today.

There was a vague thought that she should have noticed the cooler temperature when he kissed her as well, but by then they were waltzing on the pavement and Rose was losing any coherent thought to this beautiful Doctor.

"Did you know, precious girl, that when you receive a bouquet of thirteen roses that it means you have a secret admirer?" The man in the frock coat asked while he danced with her.

"Does that mean that I have thirteen secret admirers or just the one?" Rose asked back with a playful smile. His voice had startled her enough out of her haze to answer. She felt like she was dancing on air in front of Big Ben again but better because it was the Doctor even if it wasn't _her_ Doctor.

"A bit of both actually," he answered back after he gracefully spun her.

"Not really a secret if you know who they're from."

"Ah, but you don't really know all of us so that makes us all bit of a mystery," Eight pointed out teasingly. "When did you figure out that all of us was me?"

"Little bloke with the umbrella. He let me get a real good look at his eyes. They may be different colors but they're still all the same. They _burn _and _freeze_ at the same time. They show how lonely you are," Rose explained.

"Oh, I thought we had done better that time around," Eight looked disappointed with himself.

"But why not tell me? I mean it would have been nice to be warned that you could turn into completely different people," Rose hoped that she didn't sound like she was whining.

"I fear that it is most likely rampant stupidity on my part," her laughter interrupted him and a smile spread across his face at the noise. "We have, unfortunately, always been such silly creatures."

"Even you?" Rose teased.

"Oh, especially me! This body is incredibly impulsive-,"

"You don't say?" Rose interrupted as he spun her in their rather unexpected waltz.

He gave her a mock frown and continued as if she had never spoken, "and while I can't say much about my future… well, that's not true I could say many things not all of them complimentary," Rose noted the anger that was directed at the Doctor in pinstripes.

~.~ o.o 0.0 o.o ~.~

"So this is the you that Rose first met. No wonder she fell in love with you. How come she got the good looking one and I got you?" Donna observed and complained.

"Oi! I don't know what you're talking about. I'm foxy," Ten preened while Nine looked both embarrassed and wondering at the same time.

"I'll say you are," Jack enthusiastically agreed earning him an eye roll from both Doctors.

"No, you're pretty, and what's with him. It's like he doesn't know he's attractive," Donna stage whispered the last part.

"That's not it," Ten said flatly. Donna stared at him for a moment until she realized what she had just said. Apparently this Doctor didn't grasp the fact that Rose was already in love with him or would be shortly.

Donna looked right at Nine and said, "How did you not know?"

" _Donna_!" Ten hissed while Jack laughed and Nine sputtered.

"No, no I want to hear this. How do you not know? I knew the first time I met you guys," Jack interjected gleefully.

"Shut it!" Nine snapped and glared at Jack who just shrugged and smiled.

"If it makes you feel better I fell in love with this you first too. Although, the more I get to see this you the more I like," Jack said and winked at Ten.

Ten sighed and gave Jack a despairing look while Nine growled his annoyance. "_Anyway_, if it's a parasite like Eight said-," Ten changed the subject.

"What the hell did you do?" Nine cut in abruptly. Everyone stared at him confused for a moment. Nine rolled his eyes and pointedly looked at Donna and then back to his, in his opinion, annoying future self.

"_Oh_ _right_," Ten rubbed the back of his neck and looked a bit sheepish, "Time Lord/Human meta-crisis." He then shrugged as if it didn't matter.

"Impossible," Nine sputtered.

"Tell that to her," Ten cheekily replied. He continued, "Think of it this way. Now we have family again. Although, I never thought it would be a bossy, ginger haired human, but whom better!" The last was quickly added when Ten caught her expression.

"What does her being ginger have to do with anything?" Jack asked before Donna could say anything. Both Doctors ignored the question as if he never asked it.

"Bossy!" Donna protested loudly. In response Ten gave her a measured look. "Alright fine! But I wouldn't be so bad if you knew how to take care of yourself." Both Nine and Ten's reply to that was to raise their eyebrows skeptically as if Donna didn't know what she was talking about. "Please," Donna scoffed, "before me Rose took care of you, not to mention mad Martha. So don't even try to pretend."

Ten rocked onto the balls of his feet then stopped only to start rubbing the back of his neck. He then admitted, "She has us there." He was looking a bit sheepish.

Nine scoffed at Ten then turned back to Donna, "What about the nine hundred years before Rose, then? Grown man me, been around for quite a bit. Learned how to take care of m'self ages ago."

"I'll believe it when I see it," came Donna's patronizing reply. "Anyway, as soon as this little meet and greet is over you need to take your Rose back to your TARDIS and keep her there."

"You seem pretty sure of yourself. Why?" Jack questioned. If they were going to have to lock Rose Tyler in they needed a damn good reason.

"She told me to tell you, well you actually." Donna gestured to Ten.

"What! Why didn't you tell me?" Ten looked hurt and excited which was an impressive feat to accomplish in one facial expression Donna thought.

"Considering what's been happening it kind of got shoved aside. It doesn't matter anyway. He got the message so the only thing left to say is that whatever they are they're draining the power supply in your TARDIS."

"Donna, that's…that's really bad. If the TARDIS looses too much power she could die and we are nowhere near close enough to Cardiff for her to gain any energy that way. As soon as we're done here we're going back to the TARDIS." Ten then lost himself in the thoughts of what he could do that could reverse the power drain and couldn't help the sigh of relief that they weren't after Ro…

"Wait a minute, Donna. If their draining the power supply why is it important that Rose stays in the TARDIS? What does Rose have to do with anything?"

"Maybe their draining the power in the TARDIS to stop Rose from leaving," Nine interjected, "But the better question is how are they hurting your TARDIS? Or better yet how did they get in to do so?"

There was a lull in the conversation as Nine and Ten seemed to be drawn into their own thoughts and what was happening between Eight and Rose, distracted by the sound of her laughing.

"My gods, both of you are complete moppets," Donna sighed in fond exasperation.

"Oi!" Nine protested while Ten sputtered indignantly.

"_Donna!"_ The tenth Doctor whined.

"Don't Donna me, spaceman. I've had to deal with every single one of you today and most of you follow after her with moony eyes. It's getting old. We wouldn't be having this problem if you wouldn't have made her mad than she would be standing here with us," Donna vented her frustration.

"First, you haven't met every single one of me yet and if I can get away with it I won't have to run into Twelve and Thirteen again. So that's two of me that you missed. And secondly, Rose was still too tired come anyway. She's safe in the TARDIS."

Ten suddenly straightened and started to look around as if he was trying to find someone.

"What are you doing," Donna asked as both Nine and her stared at him oddly.

"I just noticed but Jack wandered away and now I have no idea where he went," Ten explained,

"I mean it's a lot easier to tell when he's around in the future. I'd forgotten how annoying he was when he did this."

"Great, just what I need," Nine grumbled, "this is the third time today that he's wandered off."

"Relax, I'm sure he hasn't wandered far," Donna tried to sooth.

For her efforts she received two different expressions that meant 'yeah right'.

Donna huffed but before she could say anything Rose's laughter distracted them. When they looked over Jack had reappeared from where ever he had gone and was now dancing with Eight instead of Rose. Eight seemed confused but his expression was one of amusement. Nine sighed in annoyance.

"Oi, Captain, get back here. We weren't done with you," Nine barked at his wayward companion.

Jack paused and a look of devious delight filled his eyes, which caused Ten to groan in annoyance.

Nine cut in before Jack could say anything, "None of that nonsense, just get over here."

Everyone could feel the pout that Jack directed at Nine. It was ignored and Jack left the two alone again. He soon rejoined the three waiting for him to continue the discussion.

"Hold on, you've said that it could be unsafe to other people besides you but you never explained why. Why is it so dangerous for us?" Donna needed to know what could happen. "I mean, what would those things do to us? And why doesn't it affect normal people?"

"Donna, did you know that you are a complicated space/time event?" Ten asked.

"What the hell does that mean?" Donna blustered to cover her growing fear and worry. Plus she was trying to figure out if he had just insulted her in some way.

"You first created two separate parallel worlds around you and then you became what you are now. Not quite a Time Lord but close enough that with training you would be magnificent. Jack will become a Fact of existence and if something happens now to change that it would rip the entire universe, at least this one, to pieces. Susan, because of what happened in the Time War, does not exist. Rose has or will be, depending on which Rose you're talking about, the exact definition of a god. At one point her _will_ was reality, anything she wanted she made it so. And I'm here in all my thirteen forms.

"My point is this; everyone mentioned is steeped in time and all the energy or background radiation that comes from it. Normal people haven't got any of that so they're not tasty, even as a snack. But us, especially Rose, would be like having a candle lit dinner at an eight star restaurant."

"Doctor, there's only five stars," Donna said.

"What?" Both Doctors looked perplexed.

"Not where I'm from," Jack said, "we only had seven."

"What kind of rubbish is that?" Nine said.

"He's right," Ten said nodding in Nine's direction, "that's loads of rubbish. Eight's the perfect number, it's lucky too."

"You don't believe in luck," Donna said.

"No, but the point still stands," Ten said petulantly.

"You just like it because it goes on forever," Donna pointed out.

"No it doesn't," Nine said softly as he watched his younger self dance with Rose.

"Oh bloody hell, this is getting old. You two come and join the party before I do something that I'll regret later," Donna hollered at the two people not involved in the conversation.

Everyone was quickly brought up to date on the plan that Four had come up with. It was simple and sonic and really what else could the Doctor ask for.

"Well, I best be off," Eight said a gentle smile creasing his face. "It was delightful meeting you all, especially you, Rose," he reached out and kissed her hand again.

Eight then gave Ten his most thunderous glare, which quickly melted into exasperation and pity.

"It's not our decision, it never has been." With that parting statement Eight turned and wandered away.

There was a moment of silence while everyone recovered from what had just happened. Jack and Donna looked distinctly pale even though they hadn't been the subject of the glare it had still affected them. Nine had withdrawn into himself even further not liking the reminder of what he could easily become. The only two that seemed unaffected by the fierce righteous glare were Ten and Rose. Rose because she was Rose and could see past the storm and into what he was really was. Ten on the other hand finally acknowledged the fact that there was something truly wrong with him.

That glare was at its most potent, most terrifying, and a large part of Ten just wanted to laugh. He was afraid that it would come out mad and dark, something that the Master would be proud of. It was the same part of him that wanted to do whatever the hell he wanted and damn the consequences.

"That you seems lost," Donna said. Her pensive tone cut into his internal panicking over his mental state.

"Lost?" Jack asked in confusion. That was far from what he had been planning to say after that display of power and temper.

"No, not really, actually he probably found his way the best. I remember being him or more accurately I don't, not really." Ten interjected trying his best to explain what Eight was like.

"Well that made a whole lot of _no_ sense," Donna said calmly. She was staring at the youngest him present in bewilderment until he turned the corner and was gone.

"He has no filters, no barriers, or at least very few. It makes him vulnerable and very dangerous at the same time. He sees everything and tells people things he shouldn't because he gets overwhelmed by the potential time lines that are everywhere around him. That me is the most powerful psychically. Whereas I, this me," he said gesturing towards himself, "while not the most powerful or the most controlled, that's Seven, I have enough control that I'm not constantly bombarded with all that was, is, and could be unless I want to. He doesn't have a choice."

"Seven's the one with the brolly, right?" Rose's voice cut through Donna and Ten's conversation.

"Yeah," Nine answered cautiously, not understanding where Rose was directing the conversation. She didn't look angry but that didn't mean that she wasn't.

"What? I've met every one of you and I'm just putting you in order." Rose gave Nine an exasperated look.

"When did you manage that? I mean, how did you figure it out?" Ten then took a step back when Rose's stare focused on him.

"What did you think I wouldn't be able to figure it out? I'm not an oblivious ditzy blond," Rose said sharply. She finally let out the panic, confusion, and hurt over what had been happening to her today in a small display of anger that was starting to boil over.

"That's not what I… Why would you think…? Why are you upset with me? He's the one that doesn't tell you about regeneration." Ten gestured to Nine in a desperate attempt to distract her. Plus, he had a point Nine was the one in her current time stream and never mentioned anything leaving _him_ with the fallout.

'_Can you change back?' _He could still hear her say that and it still stung just as painfully. Using that hurt he pushed back against her angry tone and got to the heart of it. Though maybe not in the nicest of ways but he was the rude and not ginger one.

"Now listen hear, Rose Tyler. Be angry and hurt all you want to but direct it at the person that deserves it. I already had to deal with your anger and doubt. It hurt both of us but we got through it together, so stop being childish."

He knew that what he just said was a mistake as soon as it left his mouth. Jack was giving him a look of surprise and sympathy. Nine had his arms crossed in front of his chest carrying a smug smile that even reached his eyes. Donna groaned in the background at his stupid gob. And Rose herself was staring at him as if she was trying to hold back from slapping him silly, not that it would change much.

Before anyone could say anything Ten filled in the gap of silence that he had left hanging. "Sorry, sorry that was uncalled for. You've been thrust into a situation that none of my other companions have had to deal with and it's only fair that you're upset." He sighed and rubbed his hands through his hair and gave Rose a faint smile that to her looked more tired than anything else but had dashes of hurt and loneliness thrown in.

"Now that you know what your shoe taste like, it's best we should be going," Nine cut in.

"Wait, he still has to label my other roses. I mean I have 'em all except yours," Rose said pointedly. She held out her hand with the expectation of Nine handing over her flowers. He didn't

"I can do that," Nine retorted ignoring the blatant jab at the fact that he hadn't given her a flower yet.

"I want him to do it," Rose shot back with another hand gesture. Nine stared at her a moment then grumbled and handed over the flowers when he realized that she just wasn't going to back down from her decision. When he still failed to produce the flower from him everyone gave him pointed looks. Jack more so than most as he had been with the Doctor when it was purchased.

Nine's ear tips turn a faint pink as he reached in his opposite pocket and pulled out a lavender shaded rose. He thrust it at her with annoyance the antithesis of how Eight had presented his gift. He still received a kiss on the cheek for his trouble reversing his poor mood.

It was quickly dashed as she turned and gave the unmarked ones to his future swotty self.

Ten jumped in the opportunity to speak with her to the side of the group and gently tugged her closer to the edge of the group trusting in Donna to keep his past and Jack from truly hearing or interrupting their conversation.

Rose didn't mind so much even if she still felt stung by his previous words, but he was the Doctor so that meant that he was safe. So she took this opportunity to study this strange Doctor like she had to the other ones that she had run into this day. All she ended up focusing on was his hands as he tied tags to each and asked her who they were from.

Rose soon found herself just studying the roses and comparing them to the men that she had received them from. Thirteen men who were her Doctor and apparently they were all hers by some of their reactions to her. She absurdly felt like a polygamist.

"You only get this one day, Rose Tyler," Ten said cutting into her thoughts. She was grateful the change.

"What does that mean?" It sounded like after today that she would no longer get to travel with him.

Seeing her hurt and confusion Ten continued, "After this is over your going to forget today. If you don't it will destroy our personal timelines and that is too precious to me, all of me, to let happen. You love that me, yes love, more than any other version, I think," he said while gesturing to Nine. Ten than paused and rubbed the back of his neck while thinking of how to phrase what he was going to say. He wanted to get this right.

"I, he has to forget today too. So whatever happens, whatever you decide to do I won't remember. So no embarrassing moments afterwards, tomorrow it won't even have been a dream. Do you understand what I'm getting at?"

"Is that why you kissed me because none of us will remember what happened today?" The Doctor could see the indignation building behind Rose's eyes.

"What? No that's a bit different. Nothing to worry about, my situation is something that will…that is about… because I'm," Ten trailed off at Rose's unimpressed look.

"You're as emotionally stunted as a grapefruit," Donna stated as she leaned against a wall a few feet away keeping an ear on the conversation. The Doctor turned and gave her a withering look. Her reply was a shrug and an innocent smile as she said, "I'm just trying to help."

"Yes, thank you, Donna," exasperation rolled off of him in waves. His shoulders were taut and his hands were clenched into fist.

Donna ignored his mood. He was always switching them around, it wasn't her problem. She gave him her best sisterly affectionate smile and said, "Don't worry about it, spaceman; I'm always here to help."

"Right, well, just think about what I said and be your brave brilliant self. I'm sure no one here would regret anything that might be said," Ten said earnestly and then gave a jaunty little wave to Nine and latched onto Donna and dragged her away. They had places to be.

Rose was left holding her complete bouquet of roses and a little more lost than before. But considering how he left her last time…well actually she was a bit disappointed considering how well he kissed. At least the rest of the encounters had helped her figure out who he truly was. Though she was a bit ashamed at herself for not finding out sooner, or more accurately unwilling to admit it sooner.

After the Pinstriped Doctor had left them the first time the three of them had wandered the streets looking for answers to the real problem of the day. What made it harder was that the Doctor had been leading them in odd patterns as if he were trying to avoid something or someone. This made trying to solve the mystery a bit it hard. Rose at the time had figured he was avoiding the other men that were supposed to give her flowers since there was supposed to be thirteen of them.

It took another hour before they ran into another Doctor. They were approaching an area with outdoor seating when a man walked right up to them or more accurately her. He had been slightly shorter than the Doctor but had more defined muscles under lightly olive skin but nicely defined by the white button up shirt he had been wearing. His eyes had been such a deep brown they almost looked black and were made to get lost in.

The man had been overly polite at directing them away from the outdoor seating of a decent chippy. He was interrupted by a man who was a little taller than the stranger in the pinstripes. This new stranger had the most violent ginger hair she had ever seen on a man and the most unnatural eyes. They were turquoise so he had to have been wearing contacts.

"What the hell happened to you?" The Doctor bluntly stated. He was staring at the men with a strange mixture of horror and fascination. Rose could tell that he was ready to bolt in the opposite direction at any moment.

"What? Don't like the look? Bite me, you know it's always been dodgy and you bark at me. Finally got to be ginger and I get nothing but odd looks. I know it has to be my nose," the man exclaimed in fake surprise, "but at least it isn't my ears. Here this is yours," the ginger presented a yellow rose then nudged the first man that had come up to them. "Go on. What are you waiting for old age, oh wait I already beat you there."

The man he was addressing sighed and glowered at him in exasperation. "I see that romance completely dies with you, shame."

"Nope, that died much earlier because of the hoard. Only now just getting a moment to ourselves again and we have no idea what to do with ourselves let alone each other." Turquoise eyes danced with amusement and a bit melancholy.

"What's wrong," the dark eyed man asked his voice displaying the utmost concern while his eyes remained empty of sympathy. Rose worried for this man, he seemed so closed off.

"It's the lack of noise. Everything is quiet and it should be peaceful but you know we've never been good at that," the ginger man shrugged.

The Doctor looked too horrified to speak so Jack stepped in, to help of course.

"Does that mean what I think it means?" Jack asked. He truly hoped it was domestic as it sounded. Oddly enough he was answered.

"No one knows what you think. Ah, ah," the ginger held up his hand as if to hold off something, "No one wants to either. More than likely it has nothing to do with what goes on in that depraved little human mind of yours."

"Now there's no need for that," the dark one admonished. He then turned to Rose and handed her a flower. It was the purest of white. "This is for you; I hope I can live up to it. Now if you want to avoid two others I suggest leaving that way."

The Doctor didn't comment to thank or insult he just grabbed Rose's hand and dragged her away in the direction indicated.

After a few minutes Rose tried to calm the alien down but while his pace slowed he withdrew into himself as if he had seen something that hurt to think about. Occasionally he would throw her an odd glance or two but said nothing.

He became so with drawn into whatever it was that Rose soon wandered off in thought and soon after in action. This led her to become lost, again.

Coming up behind a decently well dressed man Rose decided to ask for directions, she almost changed her mind when he turned around. It wasn't that he was ugly; he was actually quite the looker blond hair, blue eyes, and great smile. He was wearing celery.

Still at this point Rose figured she had seen all manner of strange men today and none of them had been a creeper. Plus, she liked to think that she had great instincts when it came to people, alien or otherwise.

"Hey, I was wondering if you seen a bloke about this tall," Rose used her hand to show the Doctor's height. "Er, yeah, he's wearing a black leather jacket and has close cut hair that's really dark and blue eyes."

He blinked at her a moment as if overwhelmed to be spoken to by a girl. "No, sorry no I can't say I have. I'm sorry, this may seem odd but I think this is yours."

With that he handed her a peach colored rose.

"How did you know? I mean did someone give you my picture because this is getting kinda creepy and none of you lot will even tell me why," Rose ground out. She would not end up yelling, she would not sound like her mother.

The man gave her a vague look of sympathy but didn't seem to be as impressed with her control as she was. "I don't know why, but I don't know you either. I'm sure there is some reason."

"Why would you give a stranger a rose? What's the point?"

"There doesn't need to be one, I suppose, but I'm sure you have done something that warranted a simple gesture of appreciation. By the way what is your name? I wasn't told."

"You mean to say that you weren't even told that and you still gave me a rose? Well I'm Rose Tyler it's nice to meet you, I guess." Rose said and presented her hand for a handshake.

He had blanched at her name fully comprehending how awful a pun a girl named Rose getting roses was. The man gently took it in his and stared at their clasped hands for a moment in confusion as if the gesture was foreign or something. Shaking his head he let go of her hand and the distracting thought.

"Sorry that I haven't seen your Doctor, but I wish you luck. And hopefully I will have the same with finding my own companions. It was truly an interesting first meeting; I hope the second will turn out better." He gave her a genuine if small smile and retreated. It took another five minutes to realize that she had never said the Doctor's name.

Rose found herself wondering again. She stopped and finally got something to eat when she noticed one of those weird portals that were opening and closing everywhere. This one was closing so she hurried over to investigate closer but found nothing that she could determine except that every hair on her body was standing as straight as it could. She quickly got herself away and hopefully back to the Doctor.

Rose had been passing by an ally, looking for Jack or the Doctor, when she heard a whistle and her wrist had been caught in a hook like thing. Which turned out to be the red curved handle of an umbrella being held by a small man wearing a white hat, a dark brow coat, and a jumper covered in question marks. Even the umbrella handle was in the shape of a question mark.

He smiled and tipped his hat with his other hand.

"Professor, what are you doing?" A younger girl's voice interrupted the silence. She was a few years younger than Rose and had her dirty blond hair braided down her back. She was wearing a leather bomber jacket and a bag was slung over her shoulder.

"Now Ace, I have been instructed to give this young lady a flower. A rose to be specific and seeing her, I now know why." The man answered back without taking his eyes off of Rose. He then gently pulled her closer, close enough that she was just out of his touching range. It was a very deliberate move emphasized by him handing his umbrella to the girl Ace so he could not use it against her.

This gave Rose a moment to study him, _really_ study him. The rest of the men had come and gone so quickly that she had only started to feel a passing familiarity with them; it was as if they had not wanted her to really know who they were. But this man was giving her ample opportunity to focus on him. She doubted that it was intentional.

It wasn't the way he carried himself or what he looked like that gave him away finally. It was his eyes. She knew those eyes anywhere. They weren't the same shade of blue but they held the universe and time and haunting loss, though not nearly as badly, in them just like the pair she had memorized from the first moment that she had met him in that basement.

And now that she knew, Rose could see the Doctor that she traveled with in this different man. She could see the alien power that poured out of her Doctor when he was facing down the bad guy in this small older man. This man's eyes contained the storm that _her_ Doctor barely kept hidden. All that love and hope and sadness and anger was there just under the surface but in ridged control unlike her Doctor.

Rose didn't know what to do or think. How was that possible? How could he be more than one person? How could all of these men be the same person, the _Doctor?_ Why were all of them giving her roses?

One of them had _kissed_ her.

That wasn't fair! She got snogged by the Doctor and didn't even get to know it at the time. What was worse was that it was the wrong Doctor.

She stood there in shock and so did the man in front of her. The expression on his face showed his surprise but his eyes were calm and clear, crystalline in their intensity. This strange but familiar man was studying her with his ice blue gaze, trying to figure out what was happening.

"Professor? What's she doing?" Ace interrupted their staring contest. "Do you need me to do something?"

"What? No, Ace, she just startled me. She can _see_ who I am. Funny, I thought I was hiding it better," he replied. It was then that Rose noticed the faint Scottish accent because of his exaggerated r's.

"Professor, you couldn't hide even if you were trying," the girl said.

"And what is that supposed to mean?" He asked as he finally looked away and focused on his companion.

"Nothing, Professor," the girl said as innocently as possible.

After a scolding look was delivered and ignored he turned back to Rose.

"Ah yes, your flower." He then, in a move that Rose couldn't follow, had it magically appear in his hand.

It was the most vivid color of pink that Rose had ever seen in a rose. It put the other two pink roses she got to shame; both were not nearly as vibrant.

"Thank you," Rose said and took the step forward to take it from him. She was putting herself within his grasp if he so choose but it was the Doctor so Rose knew she was safe. Even if she still didn't understand how it was possible that he was the same man.

Before Rose could stop him or his companion they were both leaving. The girl had spotted something and the Doctor that was traveling with her had gone after her. The last that she saw of the strange little man was another sunny smile that reflected his happier disposition. It had happened so quickly that Rose was left wondering if the conversation had really taken place. The only evidence that she had was the rose that she was still holding.

After that she had seen the Scottish boy again but something was different. The way he moved, how he carried himself, everything just wasn't right. When his eyes met hers Rose ran. There was something deep inside of her that was screaming at her, forcing her to flee. Not one to truly disobey instinct Rose fled looking for the Doctor. Any Doctor would do but she preferred that it was her own.

Rose didn't get her Doctor but she did run into another, quite literally.

"And what was that for?" An indignant voice came close to bellowing.

"Sorry about the Doctor, he's in a bad mood. My name's Peri. Are you okay?" A young woman asked with an American accent.

"Yeah I'm alright. I'm sorry I bumped into yo…" Rose trailed off as she fully focused on the Doctor in front of her. How in the world had she missed him in a crowd? He could do damage to people's eyes with that coat.

"What the hell are you wearing?" Rose blurted. The loudness of the coat and the shock of running into someone momentarily making her forget her gut wrenching fear of the boy she had seen.

"Why must a man always be measured by his outward appearance?" Came his melodramatic response to her exclamation.

"Maybe because you scare everyone away with that coat before they can get to know you," Rose answered his rhetorical question with a smile that for anyone who knew her could tell she was in the mood to tease.

The man scowled at her cheekiness and caught her eye. Rose was entranced, the man was gorgeous. Delicate eyelashes and high cheekbones with a strong chin, he was easily someone that Rose would have flirted with before the Doctor came into her life. With that thought everything the woman had said to Rose echoed in her ear.

"What? Doctor?" Rose stared at him for a second longer taking the chance to take in his full outfit and the body language of the man in front of her and promptly burst into nervous but amused giggles. "Bloody hell! I'm never gonna let you forget this!"

The Doctor's expression turned thunderous and Peri's was confused at her continued laughter.

"Sorry," Rose eventually managed. "I'm not laughing at you, well not this you. The you that I travel with goes on and on about pretty boys and here you are." She snickered again at what she could imagine her Doctor's expression at meet up with this him. And then thought of Jack's.

"Pretty boy!" The Doctor blustered out.

"Sorry," Rose said again. "You must think I'm mad."

"Trust me, you can't be worse than him," came Peri's dry reply.

"I beg your pardon," said the Doctor in a completely scandalized manner.

"Yeah, every one of him is completely mad. All day they've…er he has been given me these roses and I still don't get it," Rose said to Peri ignoring the fact that the Doctor had spoken.

Both of their demeanors's changed as they realized who was in front of them. Rose didn't understand why they were studying her all of the sudden.

Suddenly a burgundy rose was thrust at her accompanying a sour look on the Doctor's face.

"So you're the one that is supposed to receive this." It wasn't delivered as a question.

"Doctor," Peri scolded and sighed at the same time.

The man in question tilted his head up as if he was trying to study her. In Rose's opinion it just made him look arrogant.

"Well, I never asked to be given roses. So if you don't want to do it, don't." Rose said with her hands on her hips giving a good impression of her mother. She wasn't going to let this rude version of the Doctor be a drama queen about something she had never asked for. Why did the Doctor always have to be so frustrating, no matter what form he took?

"No. While I don't understand my future's reasoning on it I do trust my own opinion. There must be a reason why you deserve them. I'll just have to figure it out when I become the man that meets you. Though I despair over the thought of my future," the Doctor said in an almost indifferent tone.

Peri leaned towards Rose conspiratorially and said, "He thinks he's the best one of himself."

"They probably all do," answered back Rose but she finally took the flower from the man's hand. To the Doctor Rose asked one of the many questions that had been floating in her head this day, "Why is it that every time I hold your hand does it feel the same?"

She then stood there wondering at herself. Why hadn't she asked how the hell he could be different people and still be the same man? Where were her priorities?

He gave her a piercing look as if the question she asked was something he wasn't sure he wanted to give the answer to. So far every Doctor she met tried to keep secrets from her so she assumed he was no different.

With a suddenness that had both women jumping the Doctor grasped her unoccupied hand and threaded their fingers together in something that if it wasn't the Doctor doing it would have had Rose throwing a fit. But just like every other Doctor that she had been allowed to have this contact with, this man's hand felt _right_ holding hers.

Rose couldn't explain it and the feeling was starting to freak her out a bit. Only one person should be able to make her feel this way and she was sure he wasn't interested. Well she was until today.

"Yeah, like I said before, your hand just fits," Rose said unable to handle the odd silence that had fallen over their small group.

The Doctor in front of her suddenly became softer. His smile and eyes carried warmth that hadn't been there before. "No you asked why my hands felt the same from regeneration to regeneration. They shouldn't, a different body means a new hand, but like you said they just fit."

He turned to Peri and dropped Rose's hand. "Come along, Peri. We're finished here." Peri looked confused but resigned to him not answering anything, apparently.

"Wait, you're not going to answer my question are you?" Rose tried to stop him from gallivanting off.

"Of course I will. Just ask the Doctor your traveling with," the Doctor answered back with a cheekiness that made his smile dimple.

"So no then, figures," Rose groused.

She had then wandered aimlessly for a while keeping an eye out for that boy and her Doctor. Rose had eventually found her way back to her proper Doctor, and after getting an earful over wandering off the Pinstriped Doctor appeared again, this time with a ginger woman in tow. She never did get the chance of explaining about the strange Scottish boy.

~.~ o.o 0.0 o.o ~.~

A/N: If you see a plot bunny shoot it because if you don't you'll end up like me. As of right now I have fourteen different stories not to mention at least another nine for my Jump series, hence the lack of timely updating. The sad thing is that even if I gave them away I'd still end up doing my own version and be right back to where I started.

What really annoys me is that I started off with one and then like an amoeba it split into nearly identical bunnies. And so when a rabbit finds another or Jack if he could touch a different version of himself without the universe imploding, they screwed like mad. So now I have all these other stories to contend with.

But I have made a solemn vow to myself that I will not post another story until this one is completed. Unfortunately, knowing my luck, by the time I'm done with this, years will have passed but every other story will have been completed and just be waiting to be uploaded.

**The meaning behind the roses:**

Yellow/Gold: Friendship and "I care", Unbridled joy, Promise of a new beginning, Gladness, Delight, Warmth, Good Luck, Welcome Back, Remember Me, Dying Love (Thirteen)

White: Purity & Innocence, Reverence & Humility, Heavenly & Honor, Everlasting love, Marriages and New Beginnings, I am worthy of you, Beauty & Youthfulness, Remembrance (Twelve)

Peach: Modesty, Closing of a new deal, Great cheer, Sincerity & Genuineness, Sympathy, Gratitude and Thankfulness (Five)

Burgundy: unconscious beauty (Six)

Bright Pink-"Thank You", Gratitude, Admiration (Seven)

Red: Love & affection, Romantic & Abiding Love, True Love, I Love You, Desire, Courage & Passion, Congratulations, Job Well Done, Respect & Appreciation, Honest Beauty, Courage & Passion, Bliss to Marriage (Eight)

Lavender, Purple, and Dark Purple: Love/Enchantment at first sight, Regal majesty and splendor, Wonder & Impossibility (Nine)


End file.
